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Nature

Title:		Spectroscopic evidence for interstellar ices in comet Hyakutake
Author(s):		Irvine WM; Bockelee-Morvan D; Lis DC; Matthews HE; Biver N; Crovisier J; Davies JK; Dent WR; Gautier D; Godfrey PD; Keene J; Lovell AJ; Owen TC; Phillips TG; Rauer H; Schloerb FP; Senay M; Young K;
Address:		"Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA. irvine@fcrao1.phast.umass.edu"
Journal Title:		Nature
Year:		1996
Volume:		383
Issue:		6599
Page Number:		418 - 420
DOI:		10.1038/383418a0
ISSN/ISBN:		0028-0836 (Print) 0028-0836 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Volatile compounds in comets are the most pristine materials surviving from the time of formation of the Solar System, and thus potentially provide information about conditions that prevailed in the primitive solar nebula. Moreover, comets may have supplied a substantial fraction of the volatiles on the terrestrial planets, perhaps including organic compounds that played a role in the origin of life on Earth. Here we report the detection of hydrogen isocyanide (HNC) in comet Hyakutake. The abundance of HNC relative to hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is very similar to that observed in quiescent interstellar molecular clouds, and quite different from the equilibrium ratio expected in the outermost solar nebula, where comets are thought to form. Such a departure from equilibrium has long been considered a hallmark of gas-phase chemical processing in the interstellar medium, suggesting that interstellar gases have been incorporated into the comet's nucleus, perhaps as ices frozen onto interstellar grains. If this interpretation is correct, our results should provide constraints on the temperature of the solar nebula, and the subsequent chemical processes that occurred in the region where comets formed"
Keywords:		*Extraterrestrial Environment Freezing Hydrogen Cyanide/*analysis Ice *Meteoroids Spectrum Analysis NASA Discipline Exobiology Non-NASA Center;
Notes:		"MedlineIrvine, W M Bockelee-Morvan, D Lis, D C Matthews, H E Biver, N Crovisier, J Davies, J K Dent, W R Gautier, D Godfrey, P D Keene, J Lovell, A J Owen, T C Phillips, T G Rauer, H Schloerb, F P Senay, M Young, K eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 1996/10/03 Nature. 1996 Oct 3; 383(6599):418-20. doi: 10.1038/383418a0"