First Polymer in Space Identified in Comet Halley

Abstract

The heavy-ion mass spectrum obtained in the inner coma of comet Halley with the PICCA instrument on the Giotto spacecraft has been examined. Short polymer chains of polyoxymethylene and their decay products are identified as the source for the spectrum with six mass peaks between about 45 and 120 atomic mass units. The properties of polyoxymethylene are consistent with many of the unexpected observations in the coma.