Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 18 June 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5678, pp. 1774 - 1776
DOI: 10.1126/science.1098836
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

The Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer at Comet 81P/Wild 2

J. Kissel,1 F. R. Krueger,2 J. Silén,3 B. C. Clark4

The CIDA (Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer) instrument on the Stardust spacecraft is a time-of-flight mass spectrometer used to analyze ions formed when fast dust particles strike the instrument's target. In the spectra of 45 presumably interstellar particles, quinone derivates were identified as constituents in the organic component. The 29 spectra obtained during the flyby of Comet 81P/Wild 2 confirm the predominance of organic matter. In moving from interstellar to cometary dust, the organic material seems to lose most of its hydrogen and oxygen as water and carbon monoxide. These are now present in the comet as gas phases, whereas the dust is rich in nitrogen-containing species. No traces of amino acids were found. We detected sulfur ions in one spectrum, which suggests that sulfur species are important in cometary organics.

1 Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.
2 Ingenieurbüro Krueger, Messelerstrasse 24, D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany.
3 Finnish Meteorological Institute, Vuorikatu 24, SF-00101 Helsinki, Finland.
4 Lockheed Martin Aerospace, P.O. Box 179, Denver, CO, 80201, USA.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Organics Captured from Comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust Spacecraft.
S. A. Sandford, J. Aleon, C. M. OD. Alexander, T. Araki, S. Bajt, G. A. Baratta, J. Borg, J. P. Bradley, D. E. Brownlee, J. R. Brucato, et al. (2006)
Science 314, 1720-1724
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)