Authors
Roland Meier, Tobias C Owen, Henry E Matthews, David C Jewitt, Dominique Bockelee-Morvan, Nicolas Biver, Jacques Crovisier, Daniel Gautier
Publication date
1998/2/6
Journal
Science
Volume
279
Issue
5352
Pages
842-844
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
Deuterated water (HDO) was detected in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) with the use of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The inferred D/H ratio in Hale-Bopp's water is (3.3 ± 0.8) × 10−4. This result is consistent with in situ measurements of comet P/Halley and the value found in C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake). This D/H ratio, higher than that in terrestrial water and more than 10 times the value for protosolar H2, implies that comets cannot be the only source for the oceans on Earth.
Total citations
Scholar articles
R Meier, TC Owen, HE Matthews, DC Jewitt… - Science, 1998
R Meier, TC Owen, HE Matthews, DC Jewitt… - H2O ratio in comet C/1995 O