The composition of comets

Abstract

The present discussion of recent studies concerning cometary composition gives attention to the results obtained by in situ measurements of Comet Halley's dust composition by Vega 1's impact mass spectrometer, which discovered a mineral fraction that appears to be CI chondritic, as well as an organic fraction consisting of highly unsaturated hydrocarbons. The mineral fraction of comets appears to form a core that is embedded in essentially organic material; the spectroscopic invisibility of carbon is due to its presence in the cometary dust. The mass of most dust particles is found to be in the 10 to the -12th to 10 to the -14th g range. A considerable fraction of the dust grains serves as an extended source of gas in the inner coma.