Abstract
This is a progress report on our efforts to extract information from mass spectra obtained by the particulate impact analysers onboard the VEGA and GIOTTO spacecrafts. Analysing a subset of 23 selected spectra obtained with identical instrument conditions, we derive a preliminary average abundance pattern of the major and some minor elements in Halley’s dust. Within a factor of two the pattern is chondritic for the major elements. Carbon is enriched by a factor of 8 compared to CI chondrites. Halley’s dust is composed of chondritic “silicates” and refractory carbonaceous material.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Sagdeev R Z et al. 1985, Venus-Halley Mission, Louis-Jean, Gap
Kissel J 1986, Eur Space Ag Spec Publ 1077, 67–68.
Kissel J et al. 1986, Composition of comet Halley dust particles from Vega observation. Nature 321, 280–282.
Kissel J et al. 1986, Composition of Halley dust particles from Giotto observations. Nature 321, 336–338.
Divine N 1981, Eur Space Ag Spec Publ 174, 25–30.
Anders E 1971, How well do we know “cosmic” abundances? Geochim Cosmochim Acta 35, 516–522.
Brownlee D E 1985, Cosmic dust: collection and research. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sei 13, 147–173.
Bradley J P & Brownlee D E 1986, Cometary particle: thin sectioning and electron beam analysis. Science 231, 1542–1544.
Mukai T & Fechtig H 1983, Packing effect of fluffy particles. Planet Space Sci 31, 655–658.
Fraundorf P 1980, Microcharacterization of interplanetary dust collected in the Earth–s stratosphere. Ph D thesis, Washington Univ St. Louis, USA.
Jessberger E K & Wallenwein R 1986, PIXE characterization of stratospheric micrometeorites. Adv Space Res (in press).
Anders E 1975, Do stony meteorites come from comets? Icarus 24, 363–371.
Anders E 1986, What can meteorites tell us about comets? To appear in: “Comet Nucleus Sample Return”, Proc ESA Workshop, Canterbury, U.K.
Mason B 1971, Handbook of Elemental Abundances in Meteorites. Gordon and Breach Science Publ NY, 555 pages.
McSween H Y Jr & Richardson S M 1977, The compostions of carbonaceous chondrite matrix. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 1145–1161.
Van Schmus W R & Hayes J M 1974, Chemical and petrographic correlations among carbonaceous chondrites. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 38, 47–64.
Palme H, Suess H E & Zeh H D 1981, Abundances of the elements in the solar system. In: Landolt-Börnstein 2a (eds K Schaifers, H H Voigt ), pp 257–272.
Anders E & Ebihara M 1982, Solar system abundances of the elements. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 46, 2363–2380.
Delsemme A H 1977, The pristine nature of comets. In: “Comets, Asteroids, Meteorites” (ed. A H Delsemme, U. of Toledo Press ), pp 3–13.
Fechtig H, Grün E & Kissel J 1978, Laboratory simulation. In: “Cosmic Dust” (ed. J A M McDonnell), Wiley, Chichester, pp 607–667.
Krueger F & Kissel J 1984, Experimental investigations on ion emission with dust impact on solid surfaces. ESA SP–224, 43.
Kissel J & Krueger F 1986, Ion formation by impact of fast dust particles and comparison with related techniques. Appl Phys A (in press).
Ceplecha Z 1977, Meteoroid populations and orbits. In: “Comets, Asteroids, Meteorites” (ed. A H Delsemme ), U of Toledo Press, pp 143–152.
Verniani F 1969, Structure and fragmentation of meteoroids. Space Sci Rev 10, 230–261.
Krueger F R 1986, Ion emission from insulators during impact of accelerated dust particles and comparison with other techniques. Radiation Effects (in press).
Hanner M S 1981, On the detectability of icy grains in the comae of comets. Icarus 47, 342.
Fraundorf P, Brownlee D E & Walker R M 1982, Laboratory studies of interplanetary dust. In: “Comets” (ed. L L Wilkening) U of Arizona Press, pp 383–409.
Greenberg J M 1982, What are comets made of? A model based on interstellar dust. In: “Comets” (ed. L L Wilkening) U of Arizona Press, pp 131–163.
Greenberg J M 1983, Interstellar dust, comets, comet dust and carbonaceous meteorites. In: “Asteroids, Comets, Meteors” (eds. Greenberg J M ) pp 259–268, Uppsala Univ Press.
Strazulla G 1985, Modifications of grains by particle bombardment in the early solar system. Icarus 61, 48–56.
Rossler K, Jung H-J & Nebeling B 1984, Hot atoms in cosmic chemistry. Adv Space Res 4, 83–95.
Hoyle F & Wickramasinghe Ch 1981, Comets — a vehicle forpanspermia. In: “Comets and the Origin of Life” (ed. C Ponnamperuma ), D Reidel Publ Comp, pp 227–239.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Jessberger, E.K., Kissel, J., Fechtig, H., Krueger, F.R. (1987). On the Average Chemical Composition of Cometary Dust. In: Hillebrandt, W., Meyer-Hofmeister, E., Thomas, HC. (eds) Physical Processes in Comets, Stars and Active Galaxies. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72640-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72640-8_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-72642-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-72640-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive