Isotopic abundances of carbon and nitrogen in Jupiter-family and Oort Cloud comets
Open Access
- 1 September 2005
- journal article
- letter
- Published by EDP Sciences in Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Vol. 440 (2) , L21-L24
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200500160
Abstract
The 12C14N/12C15N and 12C14N/13C14N isotopic ratios are determined for the first time in a Jupiter-family comet, 88P/1981 Q1 Howell, and in the chemically peculiar Oort Cloud comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR). By comparing these measurements to previous ones derived for six other Oort Cloud comets (including one of Halley-type), we find that both the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios are constant within the uncertainties. The mean values are 12C/13C 90 and 14N/15N for the eight comets. These results strengthen the view that CN radicals originate from refractory organics formed in the protosolar molecular cloud and subsequently incorporated in comets.Keywords
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