Complex organic molecules in comets from remote-sensing observations at millimeter wavelengths

Abstract

Remote observations of comets, especially using high spectral resolution millimeter spectroscopy, have enabled the detection of over 25 molecules in comets for the last twenty years. Among the molecules identified at radio wavelengths, complex organic molecules (COMs) such as acetaldehyde, ethylene-glycol, formamide, methyl-formate or ethanol have been observed in several comets and their abundances relative to water and methanol precisely determined. Significant upper limits on the abundance of several other COMs have been determined and put constraints on the dominant isomer for three of them. The abundances measured in comets are generally of comparable order of magnitude as those measured in star-forming regions, suggesting that comets contain preserved material from the presolar cloud from which the solar system was born.