  High-dispersion (l/dl ~ 25,000) infrared spectra of Comet C/2004 Q2
(Machholz) were acquired on Nov. 28-29, 2004, and Jan. 19, 2005 (UT dates) with
NIRSPEC at the Keck-2 telescope on Mauna Kea. We detected H2O, CH4, C2H2, C2H6,
CO, H2CO, CH3OH, HCN, and NH3 and we conducted a sensitive search for CH3D. We
report rotational temperatures, production rates, and mixing ratios (with
respect to H2O) at heliocentric distances of 1.49 AU (Nov. 2004) and 1.21 AU
(Jan. 2005). We highlight three principal results: (1) The mixing ratios of
parent volatiles measured at 1.49 AU and 1.21 AU agree within confidence
limits, consistent with homogeneous composition in the mean volatile release
from the nucleus of C/2004 Q2. Notably, the relative abundance of C2H6/C2H2 is
substantially higher than those measured in other comets, while the mixing
ratios C2H6/H2O, CH3OH/H2O, and HCN/H2O are similar to those observed in
comets, referred to as "organics-normal". (2) The spin temperature of CH4 is >
35-38 K, an estimate consistent with the more robust spin temperature found for
H2O. (3) We obtained a 3s upper limit of CH3D/CH4 < 0.020 (D/H < 0.005). This
limit suggests that methane released from the nucleus of C/2004 Q2 is not
dominated by a component formed in extremely cold (near 10 K) environments.
Formation pathways of both interstellar and nebular origin consistent with the
measured D/H in methane are discussed. Evaluating the relative contributions of
these pathways requires further modeling of chemistry including both gas-phase
and gas-grain processes in the natal interstellar cloud and in the
protoplanetary disk.
