A primordial origin for molecular oxygen in comets: A chemical kinetics study of the formation and survival of O$_2$ ice from clouds to disks

TL;DR

This study uses astrochemical models to investigate the origin of molecular oxygen in comets, suggesting a primordial formation in dark interstellar clouds that are warmer and denser than typical models assume.

Contribution

It provides a detailed chemical kinetics analysis supporting a primordial origin of O$_2$ in comets, contrasting with formation during disk processes.

Findings

Dark cloud conditions with high density and moderate cosmic rays reproduce observed O$_2$ levels.

O$_2$ can survive transport into comet-forming regions from dark clouds.

Disk formation processes alone cannot account for the observed O$_2$ abundance and correlation with H$_2$O.

Abstract

Molecular oxygen has been confirmed as the fourth most abundant molecule in cometary material O$_2$/H$_2$O $\sim 4$ %) and is thought to have a primordial nature, i.e., coming from the interstellar cloud from which our solar system was formed. However, interstellar O$_2$ gas is notoriously difficult to detect and has only been observed in one potential precursor of a solar-like system. Here, the chemical and physical origin of O$_2$ in comets is investigated using sophisticated astrochemical models. Three origins are considered: i) in dark clouds, ii) during forming protostellar disks, and iii) during luminosity outbursts in disks. The dark cloud models show that reproduction of the observed abundance of O$_2$ and related species in comet 67P/C-G requires a low H/O ratio facilitated by a high total density ($\geq 10^5$ cm$^{-3}$), and a moderate cosmic ray ionisation rate ($\leq 10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$) while a temperature of 20 K, slightly higher than the typical temperatures found in dark clouds, also enhances the production of O$_2$. Disk models show that O$_2$ can only be formed in the gas phase in intermediate disk layers, and cannot explain the strong correlation between O$_2$ and H$_2$O in comet 67P/C-G together with the weak correlation between other volatiles and H$_2$O. However, primordial O$_2$ ice can survive transport into the comet-forming regions of disks. Taken together, these models favour a dark cloud (or "primordial") origin for O$_2$ in comets, albeit for dark clouds which are warmer and denser than those usually considered as solar system progenitors.