Carbon in Meteoroids: Wild 2 Dust Analyses, IDPs and Cometary Dust Analogues

Abstract

Assuming that similar organic components as in comet 81P/Wild 2 are present in incoming meteoroids, we try to anticipate the observable signatures they would produce for meteor detection techniques. In this analysis we consider the elemental and organic components in cometary aggregate interplanetary dust particles and laboratory analyses of inter- and circumstellar carbon dust analogues. On the basis of our analysis we submit that (semi) quantitative measurements of H, N and C produced during meteor ablation will open an entire new aspect to using meteoroids as tracers of these volatile element abundances in active comets and their contributions to the mesospheric metal layers