Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2008-08-29
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
15 pages, 8 figures; invited review article, in: "Deep Impact as a World Observatory Event -- Synergies in Space, Time, and Wa
Scientific paper
10.1007/978-3-540-76959-0_21
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, ubiquitously seen in the interstellar medium (ISM) of our own and external galaxies, might have been incorporated into comets if they are formed from relatively unprocessed interstellar matter. The detection of PAHs in comets would be an important link between the ISM and comets. This review compiles our current knowledge on cometary PAHs, based on ground-based and space-borne observations of infrared vibrational and ultraviolet fluorescence spectra of comets, and laboratory analysis of interplanetary dust particles possibly of cometary origin and cometary samples returned to Earth by the Stardust spacecraft. The latter provided the most unambiguous evidence for the presence of PAHs in cometary nuclei.
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