What we do not know about cometary ices - A review of the incomplete evidence

Only two features seem rather well established about the cometary nucleus: it is an icy conglomerate that contains a large amount of volatile ices, and its major constituent seems to be water ice. The evidence on all the minor constituents is incomplete and fragmentary and there are still major difficulties in establishing a complete list of the parent molecules from the numerous radicals, ions, and atoms observed in the coma. In particular, the case of the forbidden lines of oxygen is discussed here in detail; new arguments are shown to contradict the need for CO2 as a major source of O(1D).