Le travail réalisé au cours de ma de thèse avait pour but de placer de nouvelles contraintes sur la composition du ou des précurseurs organiques présents dans la nébuleuse proto-solaire. Des expériences de thermodégradation ont été mises en place en utilisant des matériaux modèles riches en azote. La spectrométrie de masse à haute résolution (Orbitrap) à été utilisée afin de mieux caractériser les polymères de HCN, autre matériau modèle. Ce travail apporte de nouvelles informations sur la diversité moléculaire de tels matériaux, ainsi que de nouvelles informations sur leur structure. Les expériences de thermodégradation proprement dites ont ensuite été réalisées, afin de mieux comprendre le comportement de l'azote dans les matériaux organiques macromoléculaires, et ainsi apporter de nouvelles contraintes sur l'origine de la matière organique présente dans les différentes classes de cosmomatériaux (chondrites carbonées, IDPs et UCAMMs). Cette série d'expériences nous a permis de mettre en évidence une probable différence de précurseur entre la matière carbonée des IOMs et celle des IDPs et UCAMMs. / The aim of my PhD work was to add some new constraints on the organic precursors compositions in the early solar system. Thermal degradation experiments have been performed, using N-rich analog materials. High resolution mass spectrometry gives us the possibility to better characterize the HCN polymers another type of analog materials. This part of the study provides us new informations about the molecular diversity of HCN polymers and also new constraints on their structure. The thremal degradation experiments were then performed. The aim of this study was to provide some new constraints on the composition of the organic precursors present in the early solar system and incorporated in the different bodies (carbonaceous chondrites, IDPs, UCAMMs). We can conclude that the organic precursor of the IOMs was poor in nitrogen while the organic matter accreted by the parent bodies of IDPs and UCAMMs was probably nitrogen rich.

An investigation is presented of the dust scattering in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for the dates of 2015 February 28, March 15 and April 27. A comparison of the morphology of dust continuum maps at 1.1 mu m and gas emission shows that for the above dates the spatial distribution of the dust is strongly correlated with H2O but not with CO2 emission. For April 27, the radial profile on the illuminated side of the nucleus in the inner coma agrees well with the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) calculations as the dust is accelerating and flows outwards distribution of the dust is narrower than the broader emission of the gas. Af. values are 1.13 m for 2015 February 28, 2.02 m for April 27, while local values for March 15 are 2.3-5.3 m, depending on the nucleus illumination. In the inner coma, the spectral reflectivity from 0.35 to 3.5 mu m displays a red slope with a change at around 1 mu m. From 0.35 to 0.8 mu m, the values range from 9 to 12 +/- 1 per cent per 100 nm both on the sunlit side and on the dark side. From 1 to 2.5 mu m, the values are 1.7 +/- 0.2 per cent per 100 nm on the sunlit side and 3 +/- 1 per cent per 100 nm on the dark side. For the August 26 jet, no significant increase of the colour gradient with distance from the nucleus could be observed, nor any significant difference detected between the jet and the background coma.

Depuis la découverte de la chiralité moléculaire par Pasteur il y a plus de 150 ans, l'origine de l'homochiralité de la vie reste un mystère non résolu et troublant, qui remonte probablement à l'origine de la vie elle-même. Cette énigme a récemment été recensée dans Nature comme étant l’une des cinq plus grandes énigmes non résolues par la science.Aujourd'hui il existe deux façons d’aborder le problème de l'origine de l'asymétrie moléculaire impliquant des scénarios soit déterministes soit aléatoires. Ces derniers étant basés sur la résolution spontanée des énantiomères, et sont donc impossible à tester. En revanche, les théories déterministes peuvent être confrontées à l’expérience afin notamment de valider la reproductibilité de leur influence chirale.Le présent manuscrit est une synthèse bibliographique et expérimentale mettant en évidence les interactions de la LPC avec des molécules chirales dans le cadre de l’origine de l’homochiralité de la vie. Ces travaux ont pour but de mieux comprendre les propriétés chiroptiques de molécules chirales ainsi que de déterminer les espèces chirales susceptibles d'être présentes dans la glace cométaire / Since the Pasteur’s discovery of chirality more than 150 years ago, the origin of homochirality remains to be an unresolved mystery, which is probably linked to the origin of life-itself. This puzzle was named by the journal Nature as one of the five biggest unresolved puzzles in modern science.Today there exist two ways to address the question of the origin of molecular homochirality. It implies either deterministic or chance scenario. The latest is based on the spontaneous resolution of enantiomers by phase transition, and in consequence, it cannot be tested. On the other hand, deterministic theories can be subjected to experimental confirmation, since if there was, in fact, a chiral influence that imposed its chirality this should in principle be reproducible.The presented manuscript is a synthesis of bibliographic research and experimental studies that focus on the interaction of CPL with chiral molecules which are put in the context of the origin of homochirality of life. This work is aiming to advance our understanding of chiroptical properties of chiral molecules as well as to determine chiral species susceptible to be present in cometary ice

This thesis serves as a preliminary design study for the combination of a flight-proven ion optics system (SWIM) with a conversion surface to create a small energetic neutral atom (ENA) sensor. It is planned to use this sensor as ENA sensor for the DFP-SCIENA instrument on Comet Interceptor. Due to the nature of the Comet Interceptor mission (ESA F-class mission with a maximum launch mass of 1000 kg) the development time for a new sensor that meets the size and weight restrictions is limited. The proposed combination of SWIM with a conversion surface is based on a proven ion optics design and should result in a compact sensor design. The main goal of this thesis was to simulate different conversion surface designs and evaluate their compatibility with the SWIM instrument. During this process the different designs were optimised based on the intermediate simulation results. The simulation process was performed by using SIMION to calculate particle trajectories.  In the end, two different conversion surface designs yielded promising results. With both designs detailed simulations and data analysis were conducted to determine the different properties of the two designs. One of these designs was chosen to be further investigated for use on the Comet Interceptor mission.

Comets are important for solar system studies because their interiors hold evidence of the conditions in which they formed in the outer solar system. However, the coma obscures the nucleus from view when observations are most easily performed, thus it is important to understand the nature of cometary comae. This study examines the spatial distribution of CN radicals in the coma of comet Encke and determines the likelihood that CN is a photodissociative daughter of HCN in the coma. Observations of CN were obtained from October 22-24, 2003, using the 2.7 m Cassegrain telescope at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, TX. The classical vectorial model was modified by introducing a fan-like feature in order to explain Encke’s aspherical coma. The results are consistent with HCN being the photodissociative parent of CN, based on the OH/CN ratios and the physical parameters used to match the model profiles with the observations.

No description available.

<p>Comets are the most primordial and least evolved bodies in the Solar System. As such, they are unique sources of information regarding the early history of the Solar System. However, little is known about cometary nuclei since they are very difficult to observe due to the obscuring coma. Indirect methods are therefore often used to extract knowledge about nucleus parameters such as size, shape, density, material strength, and rotational properties. For example, tidal and non-tidal splitting of cometary nuclei can provide important information about nuclear densities and material strengths, but only if the criteria for mechanical stability are well known. Masses and densities of cometary nuclei can also be obtained by studying orbital modifications due to non-gravitational forces, but only if the thermophysics of comets can be modelled accurately. </p><p>A detailed investigation is made regarding the mechanical stability of small Solar System bodies. New expressions for the Roche distance are derived, as functions of the size, shape, density, material strength, rotational period, and spin axis orientation of a body. The critical rotational period for centrifugal breakup in free space is also considered, and the resulting formulae are applied to comets for which the size, shape and rotational period have been estimated observationally, in order to place constraints on their densities and material strengths. </p><p>A new thermophysical model of cometary nuclei is developed, focusing on two rarely studied features - layer absorption of solar energy, and parallel modelling of the nucleus and innermost coma. Sophisticated modelling of radiative transfer processes and the kinetics of gas in thermodynamic non-equilibrium form the basis for this work. The new model is applied to Comet 19P/Borrelly, and its density is estimated by reproducing the non-gravitational changes of its orbit.</p>

Comets are the most primordial and least evolved bodies in the Solar System. As such, they are unique sources of information regarding the early history of the Solar System. However, little is known about cometary nuclei since they are very difficult to observe due to the obscuring coma. Indirect methods are therefore often used to extract knowledge about nucleus parameters such as size, shape, density, material strength, and rotational properties. For example, tidal and non-tidal splitting of cometary nuclei can provide important information about nuclear densities and material strengths, but only if the criteria for mechanical stability are well known. Masses and densities of cometary nuclei can also be obtained by studying orbital modifications due to non-gravitational forces, but only if the thermophysics of comets can be modelled accurately. A detailed investigation is made regarding the mechanical stability of small Solar System bodies. New expressions for the Roche distance are derived, as functions of the size, shape, density, material strength, rotational period, and spin axis orientation of a body. The critical rotational period for centrifugal breakup in free space is also considered, and the resulting formulae are applied to comets for which the size, shape and rotational period have been estimated observationally, in order to place constraints on their densities and material strengths. A new thermophysical model of cometary nuclei is developed, focusing on two rarely studied features - layer absorption of solar energy, and parallel modelling of the nucleus and innermost coma. Sophisticated modelling of radiative transfer processes and the kinetics of gas in thermodynamic non-equilibrium form the basis for this work. The new model is applied to Comet 19P/Borrelly, and its density is estimated by reproducing the non-gravitational changes of its orbit.

Les sondes de permittivité sont des instruments de prospection géophysique non destructifs qui donnent accès aux propriétés électriques, aux basses fréquences (10 Hz-10 kHz), de la proche subsurface. Ce faisant, elles renseignent sur la composition, porosité, température et éventuelle hétérogénéité des premiers mètres sous la surface.Utilisant généralement 4 électrodes, le principe des sondes de permittivité est simple : il consiste à injecter un courant sinusoïdal de phase et d’amplitude connues entre deux électrodes (dipôle émetteur) et à mesurer l'impédance mutuelle (le rapport complexe entre la tension et le courant injecté) entre ce dipôle émetteur et un dipôle récepteur. La permittivité complexe du matériau de surface, à savoir sa constante diélectrique et sa conductivité électrique, sont alors déduites de la mesure de l’amplitude et de la phase de cette impédance mutuelle. Les fréquences d’opération des sondes de permittivités sont basses là où l’approximation quasi-statique s’applique. A ce jour, les propriétés électriques de seulement deux surfaces planétaires extraterrestres ont été étudiées par des sondes de permittivité : celle de Titan par l’instrument PWA-MIP/HASI/Huygens/Cassini-Huygens et celle du noyau de la comète 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko par SESAME-PP/Philae/Rosetta.Nous présentons la première analyse des données obtenues par SESAME-PP à la surface de la comète 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Grâce à un travail précis (1) de modélisation numérique de l’instrument et de son fonctionnement, (2) de campagne de mesures (en laboratoire et dans des grottes de glace) afin de valider la méthode d’analyse et (3) d’hypothèses réalistes sur l’environnement proche de la sonde, nous avons pu contraindre la composition et surtout la porosité des premiers mètres du noyau cométaire montrant qu’ils étaient plus compacts que son intérieur. Nous avons également travaillé à une nouvelle analyse des données obtenues en 2005 par PWA-MIP proposant notamment de nouveaux scénarios pour le changement brutal de propriétés électriques observé 11 min après l’atterrissage de Huygens. Ces nouveaux scénarios s’appuient, entre autres, sur les mesures de caractérisation électrique menées au LATMOS sur des échantillons de composés organiques (tholins), analogues possibles des matériaux recouvrant la surface de Titan. / Permittivity probes are non-destructive geophysical prospecting instruments that give access to the low frequency (10 Hz – 10 kHz) electrical properties of the close subsurface. This provides us with information on the composition, porosity, temperature, and heterogeneity of the first meters of the subsurface.Using 4 electrodes, the technique consists in injecting a sinusoidal current of known phase and amplitude between two electrodes (transmitting dipole) and measuring the mutual impedance (complex ratio of measured potential over injected current) between this dipole and a receiving dipole. The complex permittivity (i.e. dielectric constant and conductivity) of the subsurface material is derived from the measured phase and amplitude of the mutual impedance. The frequency range of operation of permittivity probes is low, therefore the quasi static approximation applies. To this day the electrical properties of only two extra-terrestrial surfaces have been studied by permittivity probes, the surface of Titan by the instrument PWA-MIP/HASI/Huygens/Cassini-Huygens and the surface of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko by SESAME-PP/Philae/Rosetta.We present a first analysis of the data collected by SESAME-PP at the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. With the help of (1) precise numerical models of the instrument, (2) field measurements (in a controlled and natural environment) in order to validate the analysis method, and (3) realistic hypothesis on the close environment we were able to constrain the composition and porosity of the first meters of the comet’s nucleus, showing that the subsurface is more compact than its interior. We also reanalysed of the data collected in 2005 by PWA-MIP, offering new explanations for the abrupt change in the electrical properties observed 11 minutes after the landing of Huygens. These new scenarios were built in the light of lab measurements performed at LATMOS on samples of organic matter (tholins), possible analogue of Titan’s surface material.

Determining mafic mineral composition of asteroid bodies is a topic reviewed by M.J. Gaffey et al. (2002). The iterative procedure discussed can be implemented as an algorithm, and such efforts revealed weaknesses that are examined in this work. We seek to illustrate the limits of this method and graphically determine its predictions. There are boundaries in the formulae given where the equations break down. In ranges where mafic mixtures are predicted, a method is illustrated that allows a decoupling of these mixtures into the constituents.