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Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on a sample of comets

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Abstract

We present the spectral properties of a selection of comets from both the Jupiter family and Oort cloud in the ultraviolet (UV) and mid-infrared (IR) wavelength regions. Spectroscopic measurements are retrieved from public archival data of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and Hubble Space Observatory (HST) in the near-UV (NUV) and far-UV (FUV) wavelengths and reveal emissions from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, such as pentacene (C\(_{22}\)H\(_{14}\)) at 1902, 2795 Å and toluene (C\(_{7}\)H\(_{8}\)) at 2681 Å. UV spectra of the comets also show emissions due to CS, Fe II, CO Cameron bands, C I, S I and O I. Mid-IR spectroscopic observations made using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board the Spitzer Space Telescope for a few comets reveal the presence of PAH bands at 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.2 \(\mu \)m. Mid-IR spectra of the comets also reveal the presence of silicate at 9.7 \(\mu \)m. The similarity of PAH signatures observed in the proto-planetary disks of young stellar objects, meteorites, interplanetary dust particles and comets with those observed in the interstellar medium (ISM) suggests a possible scenario for the incorporation of PAH from ISM into the primordial solar nebula.

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Acknowledgements

The work reported here is supported by the Indian Space Organization (ISRO), Department of Space, Government of India. VV would like to acknowledge ISRO for providing all the infrastructures to pursue this work. We thank the IUE, HST, Spitzer archival facilities for providing all the required spectroscopic data reported in this work. VV, AR, RR, HH, NJM and BS thank the Sir John and Lady Mason Academic Trust. AB acknowledges the support from J C Bose Fellowship. AR, RR, AB and BS thank the Physical Research Laboratory (DoS, Government of India).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, ISRO Post, Thiruvananthapuram, 695022, India

    V. Venkataraman

  2. Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380009, India

    Arijit Roy, R. Ramachandran, Anil Bhardwaj & B. Sivaraman

  3. Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Kent, Park Wood Rd, Canterbury, CT2 7NH, UK

    H. M. Quitián-Lara & N. J. Mason

  4. International Space University, Strasbourg, France

    H. Hill

  5. Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, 400085, India

    B. N. RajaSekhar

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Venkataraman, V., Roy, A., Ramachandran, R. et al. Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on a sample of comets. J Astrophys Astron 44, 89 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-023-09977-1

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