¹⁶O/¹⁸O ratio in water in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured with the Rosetta/ROSINA double-focusing mass spectrometer

¹ Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
e-mail: isaac.schroeder@space.unibe.ch
² Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
³ LATMOS, 4 Avenue de Neptune, 94100 Saint-Maur, France
⁴ Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Ringlaan 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
⁵ Institute of Computer and Network Engineering (IDA), TU Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Straße 66, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
⁶ Space Science Division, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA
⁷ Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
⁸ Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

Received: 9 July 2018
Accepted: 30 August 2018

Abstract

The European Space Agency spacecraft Rosetta accompanied the Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for over 2 yr along its trajectory through the inner solar system. Between 2014 and 2016, it performed almost continuous in situ measurements of the comet’s gaseous atmosphere in close proximity to its nucleus. In this study, the ¹⁶O/¹⁸O ratio of H₂O in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as measured by the ROSINA DFMS mass spectrometer onboard Rosetta, was determined from the ratio of H₂¹⁶O/H₂¹⁸O and ¹⁶OH/¹⁸OH. The value of 445 ± 35 represents an ~11% enrichment of ¹⁸O compared with the terrestrial ratio of 498.7 ± 0.1. This cometary value is consistent with the comet containing primordial water, in accordance with leading self-shielding models. These models predict primordial water to be between 5 and 20% enriched in heavier oxygen isotopes compared to terrestrial water.