title: COMETARY SCIENCE. Organic compounds on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by COSAC mass spectrometry.
abstract: Comets harbor the most pristine material in our solar system in the form of ice, dust, silicates, and refractory organic material with some interstellar heritage. The evolved gas analyzer Cometary Sampling and Composition (COSAC) experiment aboard Rosetta's Philae lander was designed for in situ analysis of organic molecules on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Twenty-five minutes after Philae's initial comet touchdown, the COSAC mass spectrometer took a spectrum in sniffing mode, which displayed a suite of 16 organic compounds, including many nitrogen-bearing species but no sulfur-bearing species, and four compounds—methyl isocyanate, acetone, propionaldehyde, and acetamide—that had not previously been reported in comets.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus von Liebig Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. goesmann@mps.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goesmann
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus von Liebig Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rosenbauer
authors.affiliation: University of Bremen, Institute for Applied and Physical Chemistry, Leobener Strasse NW2, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan Hendrik
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bredehöft
authors.affiliation: Université Versailles St-Quentin, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Univ. Paris 06, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers, Laboratoire Atmosphéres, Milieux, Observations Spatiales-Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (LATMOS-IPSL), 4 Place Jussieu 75005 Paris.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabane
authors.affiliation: Leiden Observatory, Post Office Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands. Space Policy Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ehrenfreund
authors.affiliation: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gautier
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus von Liebig Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. University Nice Sophia Antipolis, Institut de Chimie de Nice Unite Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7272 CNRS, Avenue Valrose, 06108 Nice, France.
authors.forename: Chaitanya
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giri
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus von Liebig Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Léna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Le Roy
authors.affiliation: University of Houston-Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: MacDermott
authors.affiliation: Space Technology Ireland, Ltd., Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McKenna-Lawlor
authors.affiliation: University Nice Sophia Antipolis, Institut de Chimie de Nice Unite Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7272 CNRS, Avenue Valrose, 06108 Nice, France.
authors.forename: Uwe J
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Meierhenrich
authors.affiliation: Centro de Astrobiología, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Ctra. de Ajalvir, km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Guillermo M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Muñoz Caro
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systémes Atmosphériques (LISA), UMR CNRS 7583, Université Paris-Est Créteil and Université Paris-Diderot, 94000 Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raulin
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus von Liebig Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roll
authors.affiliation: Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus von Liebig Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steininger
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systémes Atmosphériques (LISA), UMR CNRS 7583, Université Paris-Est Créteil and Université Paris-Diderot, 94000 Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sternberg
authors.affiliation: Université Versailles St-Quentin, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Univ. Paris 06, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers, Laboratoire Atmosphéres, Milieux, Observations Spatiales-Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (LATMOS-IPSL), 4 Place Jussieu 75005 Paris.
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Szopa
authors.affiliation: University of Bremen, Institute for Applied and Physical Chemistry, Leobener Strasse NW2, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Thiemann
authors.affiliation: German Aerospace Center, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR), 51147 Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ulamec