First insights on the organic species from the high resolution mass spectrometer ROSINA DFMS on-board the Rosetta spacecraft

Léna Le Roy (1) , Kathrin Altwegg (1) , Jean-Jacques Berthelier (2) , Ursina Calmonte (1) , Frederik Dhooghe (3) , Bjoern Fiethe (4) , Stephen Fuselier (5) , Tamas I. Gombosi (6) , Martin Rubin (1) , Chia-Yu Tzou (1)

1 Physikalisches Institut [Bern]
2 PLANETO - LATMOS
3 BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique
4 IDA - Institute of Computer and Network Engineering [Braunschweig]
5 Space Science Division [San Antonio]
6 AOSS - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor]

Starting in August 2014, the ROSINA experiment will characterize the composition and dynamics of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s coma. ROSINA consists of a suite of three instruments: a pressure sensor (COPS: COmetary Pressure Sensor) and two mass spectrometers: the Reflectron Time of Flight mass spectrometer (RTOF) and the Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS). Here we will focus on the first results obtained by DFMS, the high-resolution mass spectrometer of ROSINA. DFMS is a traditional magnetic mass spectrometer that combines an electrostatic analyzer for energy analysis with a magnet for momentum analysis. To date, DFMS is the highest mass resolution mass spectrometer in space, with resolution (m/Δm = 3000 at 1% of the peak height at 28 amu/q). It will be able to resolve CO from N2 at m/z= 28 amu/q or 12CH and 13C at m/z= 13 amu/q. We will present the first results of DFMS: the detection of organic species and their implication for the origin of cometary material.

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Léna Le Roy, Kathrin Altwegg, Jean-Jacques Berthelier, Ursina Calmonte, Frederik Dhooghe, et al.. First insights on the organic species from the high resolution mass spectrometer ROSINA DFMS on-board the Rosetta spacecraft. AGU Fall Meeting 2014, Dec 2014, San Francisco, United States. pp.P41C-3927. ⟨hal-01116471⟩