Nitrogen abundance in Comet Halley

Journal Article · Thu Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1991 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/169659· OSTI ID:5932054

Wyckoff, S; Tegler, S C; Engel, L ^[1]

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1. Arizona State Univ., Tempe (USA)

Data on the nitrogen-containing compounds that observed spectroscopically in the coma of Comet Halley are summarized, and the elemental abundance of nitrogen in the Comet Halley nucleus is derived. It is found that 90 percent of elemental nitrogen is in the dust fraction of the coma, while in the gas fraction, most of the nitrogen is contained in NH3 and CN. The elemental nitrogen abundance in the ice component of the nucleus was found to be deficient by a factor of about 75, relative to the solar photosphere, indicating that the chemical partitioning of N2 into NH3 and other nitrogen compounds during the evolution of the solar nebula cannot account completely for the low abundance ratio N2/NH3 = 0.1, observed in the comet. It is suggested that the low N2/NH3 ratio in Comet Halley may be explained simply by physical fractionation and/or thermal diffusion. 88 refs.

• OSTI ID: 5932054
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal; (USA) Vol. 367; ISSN ASJOA; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ABUNDANCE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
COMETS
COSMIC DUST
COSMOCHEMISTRY
DECOMPOSITION
DUSTS
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
ELEMENTS
HALLEY COMET
ICE
NITROGEN
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOLYSIS
PROTOPLANETS
SYNTHESIS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTIONS