Isotopic abundances of carbon and nitrogen in Jupiter-family and Oort Cloud comets
D. Hutsemekers, J. Manfroid, E. Jehin, C. Arpigny, A. Cochran, R. Schulz, J. A. Stuwe, J. -M. Zucconi
Abstract
The 12C14N/12C15N and 12C14N/13C14N isotopic ratios are determined for the first time in a Jupiter-family comet, 88P/1981 Q1 Howell, and in the chemically peculiar Oort Cloud comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR). By comparing these measurements to previous ones derived for six other Oort Cloud comets (including one of Halley-type), we find that both the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios are constant within the uncertainties. The mean values are 12C/13C ~ 90 and 14N/15N \~ 145 for the eight comets. These results strengthen the view that CN radicals originate from refractory organics formed in the protosolar molecular cloud and subsequently incorporated in comets.
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