A molecular survey of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) at the IRAM telescopes

Spectroscopic observations of comet Hale-Boppwere undertaken near perihelion at millimetre wavelengths with the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) telescopes at Plateau de Bure (France)and Pico Veleta (Spain). They resulted in the first detections of HCOOH,SO2, NH2CHO and HCOOCH3 in a comet. HDO was detected through its312–221 line at 225.897 GHz,complementing the observation of the 101–000 line at 464.925 GHz at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (Meier et al., 1998,Science 279, 842).Several unidentified lines are present in the spectra. Observations of HC3N, HNCO, OCS, SO, CN, CO+, HCO+, in addition to more ‘classical’species CO, HCN, HNC, CH3CN, CH3OH, H2CO, CS and H2S (Biveret al., this issue) permit us to make out an extensive inventory of the composition of the coma of comet Hale-Bopp at its perihelion. It presents strong analogies with gas-phase abundances measured in interstellar hot cores and bipolar flows, which are believed to reflect the composition of interstellar grains.