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Ammonium salts are a reservoir of nitrogen on a cometary nucleus and possibly on some asteroids

Longobardo, Andrea; Palomba, Ernesto; Schmitt, Bernard +29 more

The measured nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in comets is lower than for the Sun, a discrepancy which could be alleviated if there is an unknown reservoir of nitrogen in comets. The nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko exhibits an unidentified broad spectral reflectance feature around 3.2 micrometers, which is ubiquitous across its surface. On the …

Ammonium salts on comet 67P

Smith, Keith T.