But if comets can give further evidence to other solar systems similar to ours, which may indicate the possibility of life, then vermin they are not.

Paper: astro-ph/0505499
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 20:29:16 GMT (50kb)

Title: BIMA Array Detections of HCN in Comets LINEAR (C/2002 T7) and NEAT
(C/2001 Q4)

Authors: D. N. Friedel, Anthony J. Remijan, L. E. Snyder, M. F. A'Hearn,
Geoffrey A. Blake, Imke de Pater, H. R. Dickel, J. R. Forster, M. R.
Hogerheijde, C. Kraybill, L. W. Looney, Patrick Palmer and M. C. H. Wright
Comments: 20 pages, 2 figures, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal
\\
We present interferometric detections of HCN in comets LINEAR (C/2002 T7) and
NEAT (C/2001 Q4) with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) Array.
With a 25.4"x20.3" synthesized beam around Comet LINEAR and using a variable
temperature and outflow velocity (VTOV) model, we found an HCN column density
of N_T=6.4+-2.1x10^12 cm^-2, and a production rate of Q(HCN)=6.5+-2.2x10^26
s^-1, giving a production rate ratio of HCN relative to H_2O of ~3.3+-1.1x10^-3
and relative to CN of ~4.6+-1.5. With a 21.3"x17.5" synthesized beam around
Comet NEAT and using a VTOV model, we found an HCN column density of
N_T=8.5+-4.5x10^11 cm^-2, and a production rate of Q(HCN)=8.9+-4.7x10^25 s^-1,
giving a production rate ratio of HCN relative to H_2O of ~7.4+-3.9x10^-4 and
relative to CN of ~0.3+-0.2. For both comets, the production rates relative to
H_2O are similar to those found in previous comet observations. For Comet
LINEAR the production rate relative to CN is consistent with HCN being the
primary parent species of CN, while for Comet NEAT it is too low for this to be
the case.

\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0505499 , 50kb)