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1. Study of the physical properties of selected active objects in the main belt and surrounding regions by broadband photometry

Author

E. Kuehrt, S. Hellmich, Stefano Mottola, Alexander Baransky, Karen J. Meech, and Serhii Borysenko

Subjects
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), 010308 nuclear & particles physics, photometric observations, Comet, Astronomy, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, law.invention, dust activity, Telescope, Photometry (optics), Space and Planetary Science, law, Asteroid, Observatory, quasi-Hilda comets, 0103 physical sciences, Broadband, Asteroid belt, main belt comets, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Geology, active asteroids, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

Dynamically different groups of comets and active asteroids with orbits at 2 - 5 a. u. show dust activity in varying degrees and forms. Photometric study and comparison of physical parameters can help to classify mechanisms and nature of the activity for such objects. We present new observations using broadband photometry of 15 active objects in the main asteroid belt and surrounding regions obtained during 2012 - 2016. The study aims to compare the physical properties of main-belt comets (MBCs), quasi-Hilda comets (QHCs), and active asteroids (AAs). The observations were carried out with the 0.7-m telescope of the Kyiv Comet Station, Ukraine, and with the 1.23-m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory, Spain, using BVR broadband filters. Upper limits for the nuclear radii, Afrho parameters, and color indices were measured. The results of 2012 - 2016 observations suggest that there exist systematic differences in the physical parameters of MBCs and QHCs., 10 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomische Nachrichten

Published
2020

2. Regional surface morphology of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta/OSIRIS images: The southern hemisphere (Corrigendum)

Author

Monica Lazzarin, Laurent Jorda, J. B. Vincent, Cesare Barbieri, N. Thomas, Lorenza Giacomini, Olivier Groussin, S. Fornasier, Simone Marchi, B. J. R. Davidsson, A. Gracia-Berná, Antoine Pommerol, G. Cremonese, A. T. Auger, Raphael Marschall, Detlef Koschny, Matteo Massironi, P. J. Gutierrez, Stubbe F. Hviid, Holger Sierks, Cecilia Tubiana, Michael Küppers, F. Scholten, R. Rodrigo, Maurizio Pajola, N. Oklay, Mohamed Ramy El-Maarry, Ivano Bertini, J. J. Lopez Moreno, Géza Kovács, Hans Rickman, M. A. Barucci, W-H. Ip, J.-R. Kramm, Marco Fulle, P. L. Lamy, M. De Cecco, V. Da Deppo, Sebastien Besse, F. Preusker, Carsten Güttler, Giampiero Naletto, Francesco Marzari, H. U. Keller, M. F. A'Hearn, J. L. Bertaux, J.-C. Lee, Dennis Bodewits, Jörg Knollenberg, E. Kuehrt, L. M. Lara, Stefano Debei, Physikalisches Institut [Bern], Universität Bern [Bern] (UNIBE), NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Department of Atmospheric Sciences [Taoyuan City], National Central University [Taiwan] (NCU), Dipartimento di Geoscienze [Padova], Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), Southwest Research Institute [Boulder] (SwRI), Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik [Braunschweig] (IGEP), Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig], DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), ESA Scientific Support Office, Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia 'Galileo Galilei', INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK), Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Uppsala], Uppsala University, International Space Science Institute [Bern] (ISSI), Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid] (CAB), Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), Department of Astronomy [College Park], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali 'Giuseppe Colombo' (CISAS), CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Università degli Studi di Trento (UNITN), Department of Mechanical Engineering [Padova], Department of Industrial Engineering [Padova], Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd)-Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OAT), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), Institute of Astronomy [Taiwan] (IANCU), Department of Information Engineering [Padova] (DEI), CNR Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie [Padova] (IFN), Universität Bern [Bern], Universita degli Studi di Padova, European Space Agency (ESA), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC)-Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Universita degli Studi di Padova-Universita degli Studi di Padova, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), and California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA

Subjects
Asteroiden und Kometen, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, 530 Physics, Comet, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, 0103 physical sciences, Rosetta, comets, OSIRIS, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, biology, 520 Astronomy, Planetengeodäsie, Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 500 Science, biology.organism_classification, 620 Engineering, Space and Planetary Science, [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], Osiris, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]
Abstract

International audience

Published
2017
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3. Exposed water ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Author

Giancarlo Bellucci, Katrin Stephan, Yves Langevin, Sergio Fonti, G. Peter, Gianrico Filacchione, Ulrich Schade, G. P. Tozzi, Jacques Crovisier, Costanzo Federico, Eleonora Ammannito, M. I. Blecka, S. Jacquinod, Jean-Michel Reess, M. Cartacci, Michael R. Combi, Vito Mennella, Federico Tosi, Marcello Fulchignoni, Armando Blanco, Giuseppe Piccioni, Roberto Orosei, Bernard Schmitt, Andrea Longobardo, Giovanna Rinaldi, Ralf Jaumann, Vincenzo Orofino, Alessandra Migliorini, Andrea Raponi, Pierre Drossart, M. Combes, David Kappel, Mauro Ciarniello, D. Despan, Murthy S. Gudipati, C. Leyrat, T. Encrenaz, Ernesto Palomba, Andrea Cicchetti, Fabrizio Capaccioni, Michelangelo Formisano, Maria Teresa Capria, Romolo Politi, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan, Stefano Mottola, Enrico Flamini, Pierre Beck, L. Moroz, Gianfranco Magni, U. Fink, Eric Quirico, Fredric W. Taylor, Sonia Fornasier, J-Ph. Combe, F. Merlin, Jean-Pierre Bibring, N. Biver, M. C. De Sanctis, Florence Henry, Uri Carsenty, M. A. Barucci, Gabriele Arnold, Y. Hello, Patrick G. J. Irwin, R. W. Carlson, Wing-Huen Ip, E. Kuehrt, Kathrin Markus, Davide Grassi, S. Giuppi, Raffaella Noschese, Alessandro Frigeri, F. Mancarella, Stéphane Erard, Luigi Colangeli, Lydie Bonal, T. B. McCord, J. Benkhoff, D. Tiphene, Priscilla Cerroni, G., Filacchione, M. C., De Sancti, F., Capaccioni, A., Raponi, F., Tosi, M., Ciarniello, P., Cerroni, G., Piccioni, M. T., Capria, E., Palomba, G., Bellucci, S., Erard, D., Bockelee Morvan, C., Leyrat, G., Arnold, M. A., Barucci, M., Fulchignoni, B., Schmitt, E., Quirico, R., Jaumann, K., Stephan, A., Longobardo, V., Mennella, A., Migliorini, E., Ammannito, J., Benkhoff, J. P., Bibring, Blanco, Armando, M. I., Blecka, R., Carlson, U., Carsenty, L., Colangeli, M., Combe, M., Combi, J., Crovisier, P., Drossart, T., Encrenaz, C., Federico, U., Fink, Fonti, Sergio, W. H., Ip, P., Irwin, E., Kuehrt, Y., Langevin, G., Magni, T., Mccord, L., Moroz, S., Mottola, Orofino, Vincenzo, U., Schade, F., Taylor, D., Tiphene, G. P., Tozzi, P., Beck, N., Biver, L., Bonal, Combe, J. P. h., D., Despan, E., Flamini, M., Formisano, S., Fornasier, A., Frigeri, D., Grassi, M. S., Gudipati, D., Kappel, Mancarella, Francesca, K., Marku, F., Merlin, R., Orosei, G., Rinaldi, M., Cartacci, A., Cicchetti, S., Giuppi, Y., Hello, F., Henry, S., Jacquinod, J. M., Ree, R., Noschese, R., Politi, G., Peter, Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF (IAPS), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma (IASF-Roma), Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique Textiles (LPMT), Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Matériaux et Nanosciences Grand-Est (MNGE), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte (OAC), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor] (AOSS), University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, Instituto de Estudos Avançados (IEAV), Institut, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli studi di Lecce, Institute of Space Science [Taiwan], National Central University [Taiwan] (NCU), Department of Physics [Oxford], University of Oxford, Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Seattle], University of Washington [Seattle], DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Department of Physics [Lecce], Università del Salento [Lecce], INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (OAA), Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112] (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Alenia Aerospazio, DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), JDS Uniphase/Cronos, USA, JDS Uniphase/Cronos, CNR-IASF, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Nord]), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-ENSITM-Matériaux et nanosciences d'Alsace, Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Space Agency (ESA), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polska Akademia Nauk (PAN), University of Oxford [Oxford], Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique UMR6112 (LPG), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Nantes - Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques, Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Université d'Angers (UA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Lille-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ENSITM-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Matériaux et nanosciences d'Alsace (FMNGE), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
Materials science, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Extraterrestrial Environment, Comet, Mineralogy, comet 67P, 01 natural sciences, water ice, Astrobiology, Diffusion, 0103 physical sciences, Rosetta, medicine, Diffusion (business), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, [PHYS]Physics [physics], Multidisciplinary, Meteoroid, Spectrum Analysis, Ice, food and beverages, Meteoroids, VIRTIS, Debris, Asteroids, Grain growth, medicine.anatomical_structure, 13. Climate action, comets and Kuiper belt Early solar system, Gases, Layering, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Nucleus, Water vapor
Abstract

Although water vapour is the main species observed in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko1, 2 and water is the major constituent of cometary nuclei3, 4, limited evidence for exposed water-ice regions on the surface of the nucleus has been found so far5, 6. The absence of large regions of exposed water ice seems a common finding on the surfaces of many of the comets observed so far7, 8, 9. The nucleus of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko appears to be fairly uniformly coated with dark, dehydrated, refractory and organic-rich material10. Here we report the identification at infrared wavelengths of water ice on two debris falls in the Imhotep region of the nucleus. The ice has been exposed on the walls of elevated structures and at the base of the walls. A quantitative derivation of the abundance of ice in these regions indicates the presence of millimetre-sized pure water-ice grains, considerably larger than in all previous observations6, 7, 8, 9. Although micrometre-sized water-ice grains are the usual result of vapour recondensation in ice-free layers6, the occurrence of millimetre-sized grains of pure ice as observed in the Imhotep debris falls is best explained by grain growth by vapour diffusion in ice-rich layers, or by sintering. As a consequence of these processes, the nucleus can develop an extended and complex coating in which the outer dehydrated crust10 is superimposed on layers enriched in water ice. The stratigraphy observed on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko11, 12 is therefore the result of evolutionary processes affecting the uppermost metres of the nucleus and does not necessarily require a global layering to have occurred at the time of the comet’s formation.

Published
2016
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4. The organic-rich surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by VIRTIS/Rosetta

Author

Gabriele Arnold, Maria Teresa Capria, Y. Hello, Kathrin Markus, Vincenzo Orofino, A. Semery, Romolo Politi, Stéphane Erard, Roberto Orosei, Robert W. Carlson, Davide Grassi, M. Combes, J. Crovisier, Gianfranco Magni, Andrea Raponi, Michael R. Combi, Priscilla Cerroni, Yves Langevin, L. Moroz, Pierre Drossart, Ulrich Schade, G. P. Tozzi, Wing-Huen Ip, Luigi Colangeli, Fredric W. Taylor, Angioletta Coradini, J. Ph. Combe, Raffaella Noschese, Enrico Flamini, Giancarlo Bellucci, Ernesto Palomba, Sonia Fornasier, F. Merlin, Lydie Bonal, Andrea Longobardo, G. Peter, M. Cartacci, Alessandro Frigeri, Giuseppe Piccioni, Bernard Schmitt, Uwe Fink, Ralf Jaumann, Mauro Ciarniello, D. Despan, M. A. Barucci, Giovanna Rinaldi, Pierre Beck, M. C. De Sanctis, S. Giuppi, S. Jacquinod, Uri Carsenty, D. Bockelee-Morvan, Eric Quirico, Stefano Mottola, F. Henry, N. Biver, Jean-Pierre Bibring, Patrick G. J. Irwin, T. Encrenaz, Katrin Stephan, Andrea Cicchetti, Johannes Benkhoff, C. Leyrat, Gianrico Filacchione, D. Tiphene, J. M. Reess, T. B. McCord, Sergio Fonti, Costanzo Federico, Eleonora Ammannito, M. I. Blecka, Pasquale Palumbo, Armando Blanco, M. Gudipati, Fabrizio Capaccioni, Vito Mennella, Federico Tosi, E. Kuehrt, F., Capaccioni, A., Coradini, G., Filacchione, S., Erard, G., Arnold, P., Drossart, M. C., De Sancti, D., Bockelee Morvan, M. T., Capria, F., Tosi, C., Leyrat, B., Schmitt, E., Quirico, P., Cerroni, V., Mennella, A., Raponi, M., Ciarniello, T., Mccord, L., Moroz, E., Palomba, E., Ammannito, M. A., Barucci, G., Bellucci, J., Benkhoff, J. P., Bibring, Blanco, Armando, M., Blecka, R., Carlson, U., Carsenty, L., Colangeli, M., Combe, M., Combi, J., Crovisier, T., Encrenaz, C., Federico, U., Fink, Fonti, Sergio, W. H., Ip, P., Irwin, R., Jaumann, E., Kuehrt, Y., Langevin, G., Magni, S., Mottola, Orofino, Vincenzo, P., Palumbo, G., Piccioni, U., Schade, F., Taylor, D., Tiphene, G. P., Tozzi, P., Beck, N., Biver, L., Bonal, Combe, J. P. h., D., Despan, E., Flamini, S., Fornasier, A., Frigeri, D., Grassi, M., Gudipati, A., Longobardo, K., Marku, F., Merlin, R., Orosei, G., Rinaldi, K., Stephan, M., Cartacci, A., Cicchetti, S., Giuppi, Y., Hello, F., Henry, S., Jacquinod, R., Noschese, G., Peter, R., Politi, J. M., Ree, A., Semery, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma (IASF-Roma), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF (IAPS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Seattle], University of Washington [Seattle], Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), European Space Agency (ESA), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polska Akademia Nauk (PAN), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Department of Physics [Imperial College London], Imperial College London, Instituto de Estudos Avançados (IEAV), Institut, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli studi di Lecce, Institute of Space Science [Taiwan], National Central University [Taiwan] (NCU), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics [Oxford] (AOPP), University of Oxford [Oxford], DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Department of Physics [Lecce], Università del Salento [Lecce], INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (OAA), Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique UMR6112 (LPG), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Nantes - Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques, Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Université d'Angers (UA), Alenia Aerospazio, JDS Uniphase/Cronos, USA, JDS Uniphase/Cronos, CNR-IASF, IASI (IASI), Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG ), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), University of Oxford, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112] (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ITA, USA, GBR, FRA, DEU, TWN, NLD, and POL

Subjects
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Opacity, Rosetta mission, VIRTIS, comets, Infrared, Comet, Imaging spectrometer, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, comet, 0103 physical sciences, Spectral slope, Thermal, Rosetta, Rosetta mission, comets, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, [PHYS]Physics [physics], Multidisciplinary, Chemistry, Albedo, VIRTIS, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], organic-rich
Abstract

The VIRTIS (Visible, Infrared and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) instrument on board the Rosetta spacecraft has provided evidence of carbon-bearing compounds on the nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The very low reflectance of the nucleus (normal albedo of 0.060 ± 0.003 at 0.55 micrometers), the spectral slopes in visible and infrared ranges (5 to 25 and 1.5 to 5% kÅ −1 ), and the broad absorption feature in the 2.9-to-3.6–micrometer range present across the entire illuminated surface are compatible with opaque minerals associated with nonvolatile organic macromolecular materials: a complex mixture of various types of carbon-hydrogen and/or oxygen-hydrogen chemical groups, with little contribution of nitrogen-hydrogen groups. In active areas, the changes in spectral slope and absorption feature width may suggest small amounts of water-ice. However, no ice-rich patches are observed, indicating a generally dehydrated nature for the surface currently illuminated by the Sun.

Published
2015
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5. Constraints on cometary surface evolution derived from a statistical analysis of 67P's topography

Author

E. Kuehrt, Luca Penasa, Giampiero Naletto, Marco Fulle, A. Gicquel, Cesare Barbieri, Francesco Marzari, J. L. Bertaux, Stefano Mottola, Ivano Bertini, F. Preusker, Carsten Güttler, Jakob Deller, Gabriele Cremonese, Zhong-Yi Lin, F. Scholten, Géza Kovács, Hans Rickman, Steve Boudreault, Monica Lazzarin, Jörg Knollenberg, L. M. Lara, V. Da Deppo, M. A. Barucci, Michael Küppers, Holger Sierks, Stubbe F. Hviid, Detlef Koschny, J. J. Lopez Moreno, M. De Cecco, P. Gutiérrez-Marquez, Nicolas Thomas, Björn Davidsson, Cecilia Tubiana, Xian Shi, Imre Toth, N. Oklay, Philippe Lamy, Stefano Debei, Maurizio Pajola, X. Hu, Wing-Huen Ip, J. B. Vincent, J.-R. Kramm, Laurent Jorda, Sonia Fornasier, D. de Niem, Marc Hofmann, P. J. Gutierrez, Clement Feller, R. Rodrigo, M. F. A'Hearn, Olivier Groussin, Horst Uwe Keller, DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik [Braunschweig] (IGEP), Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OAT), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali 'Giuseppe Colombo' (CISAS), Universita degli Studi di Padova, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Department of Physics and Astronomy [Uppsala], Uppsala University, Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK), Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Department of Astronomy [College Park], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia 'Galileo Galilei', Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid] (CAB), Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), International Space Science Institute [Bern] (ISSI), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), European Space Agency (ESA), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD), CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Department of Industrial Engineering [Padova], University of Trento [Trento], Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), Space Science Institute [Macau] (SSI), Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), Department of Information Engineering [Padova] (DEI), Operations Department (ESAC), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), European Space Agency (ESA)-European Space Agency (ESA), Dipartimento di Geoscienze [Padova], Center for Space and Habitability (CSH), University of Bern, Physikalisches Institut [Bern], Universität Bern [Bern], Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences [Budapest], Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA)-Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC)-Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA)-Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), and Universität Bern [Bern] (UNIBE)

Subjects
Surface (mathematics), 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Distribution (number theory), Comet, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, 01 natural sciences, comet, surface evolution, topography, statistical analysis, Rosetta, 0103 physical sciences, Statistical analysis, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Physics, [PHYS]Physics [physics], 67P, [SDU.ASTR.SR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Solar and Stellar Astrophysics [astro-ph.SR], 520 Astronomy, Comets: individual: 67P, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Geophysics, Comets: general, 620 Engineering, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

We present a statistical analysis of the distribution of large-scale topographic features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.We observe that the cumulative cliff height distribution across the surface follows a power law with a slope equal to -1.69 ± 0.02. When this distribution is studied independently for each region, we find a good correlation between the slope of the power law and the orbital erosion rate of the surface. For instance, the Northern hemisphere topography is dominated by structures on the 100 m scale, while the Southern hemisphere topography, illuminated at perihelion, is dominated by 10 m scale terrain features. Our study suggests that the current size of a cliff is controlled not only by material cohesion but also by the dominant erosional process in each region. This observation can be generalized to other comets, where we argue that primitive nuclei are characterized by the presence of large cliffs with a cumulative height-power index equal to or above -1.5, while older, eroded cometary surfaces have a power index equal to or below -2.3. In effect, our model shows that a measure of the topography provides a quantitative assessment of a comet's erosional history, that is, its evolutionary age. © 2017 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Published
2017
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6. The dust environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta OSIRIS/GIADA and VLT observations in the 4.5 to 2.9 AU heliocentric distance range inbound

Author

M. F. A'Hearn, Sebastien Besse, Horst Uwe Keller, M. De Cecco, Alan Fitzsimmons, Emmanuel Jehin, Stefano Debei, Giampiero Naletto, Olivier Hainaut, R. Rodrigo, Francesco Marzari, Carsten Guettler, Géza Kovács, Dennis Bodewits, Olivier Groussin, J. Agarwal, Wing-Huen Ip, Laurent Jorda, Hans Rickman, Detlef Koschny, G. P. Tozzi, N. Oklay, L. M. Lara, V. Della Corte, Colin Snodgrass, F. Moreno, Nicolas Thomas, Jörg Knollenberg, Maurizio Pajola, P. Gutiérrez Marqués, Stubbe F. Hviid, G. Cremonese, Sara Faggi, J. J. Lopez Moreno, Francesca Ferri, B. J. R. Davidsson, E. Kuehrt, J. L. Bertaux, V. Da Deppo, Stefano Mottola, S. Fornasier, J.-R. Kramm, Holger Sierks, J. B. Vincent, Cecilia Tubiana, Monica Lazzarin, Ivano Bertini, P. L. Lamy, Marco Fulle, Cesare Barbieri, P. J. Gutierrez, Michael Kueppers, C. Opitom, M. A. Barucci, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), School of Physical Sciences [Milton Keynes], Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [Milton Keynes], The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU)-The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU), European Southern Observatory (ESO), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia 'Galileo Galilei', Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali 'Giuseppe Colombo' (CISAS), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid] (CAB), Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), International Space Science Institute [Bern] (ISSI), Research and Scientific Support Department, ESTEC (RSSD), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA)-Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Uppsala], Uppsala University, Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik [Braunschweig] (IGEP), Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Physikalisches Institut [Bern], Universität Bern [Bern] (UNIBE), Gauss Professor Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Department of Astronomy [College Park], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Department of Industrial Engineering [Padova], University of Trento [Trento], INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OAT), DLR Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Operations Department (ESAC), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Department of Information Engineering [Padova] (DEI), Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF (IAPS), Astrophysics Research Centre [Belfast] (ARC), Queen's University [Belfast] (QUB), INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (OAA), Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique [Liège], Université de Liège, ITA, USA, GBR, FRA, DEU, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), Universita degli Studi di Padova, European Space Agency (ESA)-European Space Agency (ESA), Universität Bern [Bern], Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES), and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC)-Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)

Subjects
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Monte Carlo method, Comet, Data analysis, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, Coma (optics), Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Photometry, Methods: data analysis, 0103 physical sciences, Range (statistics), Comets, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Physics, comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko / methods: data analysis / techniques: photometric, Very Large Telescope, Spacecraft, biology, business.industry, [SDU.ASTR.SR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Solar and Stellar Astrophysics [astro-ph.SR], Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mass ratio, biology.organism_classification, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, astro-ph.EP, Techniques: photometric, Osiris, business, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The ESA Rosetta spacecraft, currently orbiting around comet 67P, has already provided in situ measurements of the dust grain properties from several instruments, particularly OSIRIS and GIADA. We propose adding value to those measurements by combining them with ground-based observations of the dust tail to monitor the overall, time-dependent dust-production rate and size distribution. To constrain the dust grain properties, we take Rosetta OSIRIS and GIADA results into account, and combine OSIRIS data during the approach phase (from late April to early June 2014) with a large data set of ground-based images that were acquired with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) from February to November 2014. A Monte Carlo dust tail code has been applied to retrieve the dust parameters. Key properties of the grains (density, velocity, and size distribution) were obtained from Rosetta observations: these parameters were used as input of the code to considerably reduce the number of free parameters. In this way, the overall dust mass-loss rate and its dependence on the heliocentric distance could be obtained accurately. The dust parameters derived from the inner coma measurements by OSIRIS and GIADA and from distant imaging using VLT data are consistent, except for the power index of the size-distribution function, which is $\alpha$=--3, instead of $\alpha$=--2, for grains smaller than 1 mm. This is possibly linked to the presence of fluffy aggregates in the coma. The onset of cometary activity occurs at approximately 4.3 au, with a dust production rate of 0.5 kg/s, increasing up to 15 kg/s at 2.9 au. This implies a dust-to-gas mass ratio varying between 3.8 and 6.5 for the best-fit model when combined with water-production rates from the MIRO experiment., Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics (January 17th, 2016)

Published
2016
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7. CHANGES in the PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT of the INNER COMA of 67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO with DECREASING HELIOCENTRIC DISTANCE

Author

Imre Tóth, E. Kuehrt, P. J. Gutierrez, Ivano Bertini, Detlef Koschny, F. La Forgia, J.-R. Kramm, Steve Boudreault, S. Fornasier, Nicolas Thomas, J. J. Lopez-Moreno, Giampiero Naletto, Cecilia Tubiana, Francesco Marzari, Hans Rickman, Carsten Guettler, Olivier Groussin, M. A. Barucci, L. M. Lara, Monica Lazzarin, R. Rodrigo, Michael F. A'Hearn, Cesare Barbieri, A. Giquel, Michael Kueppers, Jörg Knollenberg, Colin Snodgrass, Zhong-Yi Lin, Marco Fulle, Stefano Debei, N. Oklay, Stubbe F. Hviid, P. Lamy, B. J. R. Davidsson, Géza Kovács, V. DaDeppo, J. L. Bertaux, H. U. Keller, Holger Sierks, Wing-Huen Ip, Laurent Jorda, Dennis Bodewits, G. Cremonese, M. De Cecco, Xian Shi, J. B. Vincent, Department of Astronomy [College Park], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), Gauss Professor Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia 'Galileo Galilei', Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), Institute of Astronomy [Taiwan] (IANCU), National Central University [Taiwan] (NCU), School of Physical Sciences [Milton Keynes], Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [Milton Keynes], The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU)-The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid] (CAB), Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), International Space Science Institute [Bern] (ISSI), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Uppsala], Uppsala University, Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik [Braunschweig] (IGEP), Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali 'Giuseppe Colombo' (CISAS), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Department of Mechanical Engineering [Padova], Department of Industrial Engineering [Padova], Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd)-Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), University of Trento [Trento], INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OAT), Operations Department (ESAC), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA)-Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Department of Information Engineering [Padova] (DEI), Physikalisches Institut [Bern], Universität Bern [Bern] (UNIBE), Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences [Budapest], Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA)-Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), Universita degli Studi di Padova, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), European Space Agency (ESA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Universita degli Studi di Padova-Universita degli Studi di Padova, European Space Agency (ESA)-European Space Agency (ESA), Universität Bern [Bern], ITA, USA, GBR, FRA, DEU, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES), and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC)-Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)

Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, atomic processes, comets: individual (67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko), molecular processes, plasmas, radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, techniques: image processing, 530 Physics, Comet, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, Coma (optics), Electron, Astrophysics, Spatial distribution, 01 natural sciences, comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko, 0103 physical sciences, Emission spectrum, comets, 10. No inequality, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Electron ionization, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), 520 Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 620 Engineering, Plume, Space and Planetary Science, 13. Climate action, Excitation, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The Wide Angle Camera of the OSIRIS instrument on board the Rosetta spacecraft is equipped with several narrowband filters that are centered on the emission lines and bands of various fragment species. These are used to determine the evolution of the production and spatial distribution of the gas in the inner coma of comet 67P with time and heliocentric distance, here between 2.6 - 1.3 AU pre-perihelion. Our observations indicate that the emission observed in the OH, OI, CN, NH, and NH2 filters is mostly produced by dissociative electron impact excitation of different parent species. We conclude that CO2 rather than H2O is a significant source of the [OI] 630 nm emission. A strong plume-like feature observed in the in CN and [OI] filters is present throughout our observations. This plume is not present in OH emission and indicates a local enhancement of the CO2/H2O ratio by as much as a factor of 3. We observed a sudden decrease in intensity levels after March 2015, which we attribute to decreased electron temperatures in the first kilometers above the nucleus surface., 6 figures, 6 tables

Published
2016
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8. A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2

Author

C. Snodgrass, C. Tubiana, J.-B. Vincent, H. Sierks, S. Hviid, R. Moissl, H. Boehnhardt, C. Barbieri, D. Koschny, P. Lamy, H. Rickman, R. Rodrigo, B. Carry, S.C. Lowry, R.J.M. Laird, P.R. Weissman, A. Fitzsimmons, S. Marchi, the OSIRIS team ( M. A'Hearn, F. Angrilli, A. Barucci, J.-L. Bertaux, G. Cremonese, V. Da Deppo, B. Davidsson, S. Debei, M. De Cecco, S. Fornasier, M. Fulle, O. Groussin, P. Gutiérrez, W.-H. Ip, L. Jorda, H. U. Keller, J. Knollenberg, J. R Kramm, E. Kuehrt, M. Kueppers, L. M. Lara, M. Lazzarin, J. López, F. Marzari, H. Michalik, G. Naletto, L. Sabau, N. Thomas, K.-P. Wenzel), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), and Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, media_common.quotation_subject, FOS: Physical sciences, asteroidi, 01 natural sciences, comet, 0103 physical sciences, Rosetta mission, Eccentricity (behavior), Osiris images, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, media_common, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Multidisciplinary, asteroid, [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astronomy, Collision, Debris, Asteroid P/2010 A2, Orbit, Planetary science, Asteroid, Asteroid belt, Geology, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, collision
Abstract

The peculiar object P/2010 A2 was discovered by the LINEAR near-Earth asteroid survey in January 2010 and given a cometary designation due to the presence of a trail of material, although there was no central condensation or coma. The appearance of this object, in an asteroidal orbit (small eccentricity and inclination) in the inner main asteroid belt attracted attention as a potential new member of the recently recognized class of 'Main Belt Comets' (MBCs). If confirmed, this new object would greatly expand the range in heliocentric distance over which MBCs are found. Here we present observations taken from the unique viewing geometry provided by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, far from the Earth, that demonstrate that the trail is due to a single event rather than a period of cometary activity, in agreement with independent results from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The trail is made up of relatively large particles of millimetre to centimetre size that remain close to the parent asteroid. The shape of the trail can be explained by an initial impact ejecting large clumps of debris that disintegrated and dispersed almost immediately. We determine that this was an asteroid collision that occurred around February 10, 2009., Comment: Published in Nature on 14/10/2010. 25 pages, includes supplementary material

Published
2010
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9. Virtis: An Imaging Spectrometer for the Rosetta Mission

Author

Uwe Fink, Bortolino Saggin, Sergio Fonti, Eleonora Ammannito, Costanzo Federico, Vittorio Formisano, M.C. Desanctis, M. I. Blecka, Pasquale Palumbo, Bernard Schmitt, Michael R. Combi, Antonella Barucci, Luigi Colangeli, Thomas B. McCord, Wing-Huen Ip, Heike Rauer, Maria Teresa Capria, Stéphane Erard, Gabriele Arnold, Gianrico Filacchione, Francesco Angrilli, G. Bianchini, Pierre Drossart, Jean-Pierre Bibring, Yves Langevin, Stefano Mottola, G. Neukum, Giulio Magni, E. T. Encrenaz, Angioletta Coradini, R. W. Carlson, G. P. Tozzi, Johannes Benkhoff, Uri Carsenty, M. Combes, E. Kuehrt, Giuseppe Piccioni, Priscilla Cerroni, Ralf Jaumann, Fabrizio Capaccioni, Vito Mennella, J. Crovisier, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan, Didier Tiphene, Giancarlo Bellucci, Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma (IASF-Roma), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte (OAC), Space Physics Research Laboratory [Ann Arbor] (SPRL), University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, Università degli Studi di Perugia = University of Perugia (UNIPG), Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli studi di Lecce, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Seattle], University of Washington [Seattle], Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble (LPG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (OAA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Universita degli Studi di Padova, European Space Agency (ESA), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polska Akademia Nauk (PAN), Università degli Studi di Perugia (UNIPG), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), and California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA

Subjects
spectroscopy, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Comet, Imaging spectrometer, Context (language use), space mission, 01 natural sciences, 7. Clean energy, Space exploration, Comets, Space missions, Spectroscopy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Astrobiology, law.invention, Orbiter, law, 0103 physical sciences, comets, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Remote sensing, Mars Exploration Program, space missions, Planetary science, 13. Climate action, Asteroid, Geology
Abstract

International audience; The VIRTIS (Visual IR Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) experiment has been one of the most successful experiments built in Europe for Planetary Exploration. VIRTIS, developed in cooperation among Italy, France and Germany, has been already selected as a key experiment for 3 planetary missions: the ESA-Rosetta and Venus Express and NASA-Dawn. VIRTIS on board Rosetta and Venus Express are already producing high quality data: as far as Rosetta is concerned, the Earth-Moon system has been successfully observed during the Earth Swing-By manouver (March 2005) and furthermore, VIRTIS will collect data when Rosetta flies by Mars in February 2007 at a distance of about 200 kilometres from the planet. Data from the Rosetta mission will result in a comparison – using the same combination of sophisticated experiments – of targets that are poorly differentiated and are representative of the composition of different environment of the primordial solar system. Comets and asteroids, in fact, are in close relationship with the planetesimals, which formed from the solar nebula 4.6 billion years ago. The Rosetta mission payload is designed to obtain this information combining in situ analysis of comet material, obtained by the small lander Philae, and by a long lasting and detailed remote sensing of the comet, obtained by instrument on board the orbiting Spacecraft. The combination of remote sensing and in situ measurements will increase the scientific return of the mission. In fact, the “in situ” measurements will provide “ground-truth” for the remote sensing information, and, in turn, the locally collected data will be interpreted in the appropriate context provided by the remote sensing investigation. VIRTIS is part of the scientific payload of the Rosetta Orbiter and will detect and characterise the evolution of specific signatures – such as the typical spectral bands of minerals and molecules – arising from surface components and from materials dispersed in the coma. The identification of spectral features is a primary goal of the Rosetta mission as it will allow identification of the nature of the main constituent of the comets. Moreover, the surface thermal evolution during comet approach to sun will be also studied.

Published
2007
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10. Continued activity in P/2013 P5 PANSTARRS

Author

Colin Snodgrass, Emmanuel Jehin, Stephen C. Lowry, J. B. Vincent, Stefano Mottola, Michaël Gillon, E. Kuehrt, Richard J. Wainscoat, Marco Micheli, Cyrielle Opitom, Olivier Hainaut, Karen J. Meech, Hermann Boehnhardt, Jakob Deller, and Jean Manfroid

Subjects
Physics, Rotation period, Solar System, Collisional family, Comet, Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Contact binary, Astrophysics, Light curve, asteroids: individual: P/2013 P5 PANSTARRS – techniques: image processing – techniques: photometric, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Asteroid, Asteroid belt, comets: individual: P/2013 P5 PANSTARRS – minor planets
Abstract

The object P/2013 P5 PANSTARRS was discovered in August 2013, displaying a cometary tail, but its orbital elements indicated that it was a typical member of the inner asteroid main belt. We monitored the object from 2013 August 30 until 2013 October 05 using the CFHT 3.6 m telescope (Mauna Kea, HI), the NTT (ESO, La Silla), the CA 1.23 m telescope (Calar Alto), the Perkins 1.8m (Lowell) and the 0.6 m TRAPPIST telescope (La Silla). We measured its nuclear radius to be r < 0:25 0:29 km, and its colours g 0 r 0 = 0:58 0:05 and r 0 i 0 = 0:23 0:06, typical for an S-class asteroid, as expected for an object in the inner asteroid belt and in the vicinity of the Flora collisional family. We failed to detect any rotational light curve with an amplitude

Published
2014
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11. The diurnal cycle of water ice on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Author

DE SANCTIS, MARIA CRISTINA, CAPACCIONI, FABRIZIO, CIARNIELLO, Mauro, FILACCHIONE, GIANRICO, FORMISANO, Michelangelo, Mottola, S., RAPONI, Andrea, TOSI, Federico, Bockelée-Morvan, D., Erard, S., Leyrat, C., Schmitt, B., Ammannito, E., Arnold, G., Barucci, M. A., Combi, M., Capria, M. T., Cerroni, P., Ip, W. -H., Kuehrt, E., McCord, T. B., PALOMBA, Ernesto, Beck, P., Quirico, E., VIRTIS Team, PICCIONI, GIUSEPPE, BELLUCCI, Giancarlo, Fulchignoni, M., Jaumann, R., Stephan, K., Longobardo, A., MENNELLA, Vito, MIGLIORINI, Alessandra, Benkhoff, J., Bibring, J. P., Blanco, A., Blecka, M., Carlson, R., Carsenty, U., Colangeli, L., Combes, M., Crovisier, J., Drossart, P., Encrenaz, T., Federico, C., Fink, U., Fonti, S., Irwin, P., Langevin, Y., Magni, G., Moroz, L., Orofino, V., Schade, U., Taylor, F., Tiphene, D., Tozzi, G. P., Biver, N., Bonal, L., Combe, J. -Ph., Despan, D., Flamini, E., Fornasier, S., FRIGERI, ALESSANDRO, GRASSI, Davide, Gudipati, M. S., Mancarella, F., Markus, K., Merlin, F., OROSEI, ROBERTO, RINALDI, GIOVANNA, CARTACCI, MARCO, Cicchetti, A., GIUPPI, Stefano, Hello, Y., Henry, F., Jacquinod, S., Rees, J. M., NOSCHESE, RAFFAELLA, POLITI, ROMOLO, Peter, G., M. C., De Sancti, F., Capaccioni, M., Ciarniello, G., Filacchione, M., Formisano, S., Mottola, A., Raponi, F., Tosi, D., Bockele´e Morvan, S., Erard, C., Leyrat, B., Schmitt, E., Ammannito, G., Arnold, M. A., Barucci, M., Combi, M. T., Capria, P., Cerroni, W. H., Ip, E., Kuehrt, T. B., Mccord, E., Palomba, P., Beck, E., Quirico, G., Piccioni, G., Bellucci, M., Fulchignoni, R., Jaumann, K., Stephan, A., Longobardo, V., Mennella, A., Migliorini, J., Benkhoff, J. P., Bibring, Blanco, Armando, M., Blecka, R., Carlson, U., Carsenty, L., Colangeli, M., Combe, J., Crovisier, P., Drossart, T., Encrenaz, C., Federico, U., Fink, Fonti, Sergio, P., Irwin, Y., Langevin, G., Magni, L., Moroz, Orofino, Vincenzo, U., Schade, F., Taylor, D., Tiphene, G. P., Tozzi, N., Biver, L., Bonal, Combe, J. P. h., D., Despan, E., Flamini, S., Fornasier, A., Frigeri, D., Grassi, M. S., Gudipati, Mancarella, Francesca, K., Marku, F., Merlin, R., Orosei, G., Rinaldi, M., Cartacci, A., Cicchetti, S., Giuppi, Y., Hello, F., Henry, S., Jacquinod, J. M., Ree, R., Noschese, R., Politi, G., Peter, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma (IASF-Roma), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF (IAPS), DLR Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG ), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor] (AOSS), University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, Institute of Astronomy [Taiwan] (IANCU), National Central University [Taiwan] (NCU), Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Seattle], University of Washington [Seattle], Laboratoire de Sciences de la Terre, ITA, USA, GBR, FRA, DEU, TWN, NLD, POL, and National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)

Subjects
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Time Factors, Extraterrestrial Environment, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Comet, 01 natural sciences, water ice, Astrobiology, comet, Diurnal cycle, 0103 physical sciences, Sunrise, Water cycle, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, [PHYS]Physics [physics], Multidisciplinary, Meteoroid, Ice, Diurnal temperature variation, Temperature, food and beverages, Meteoroids, Environmental science, Volatilization, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Surface water, cycle of water ice, Water vapor
Abstract

Observations of cometary nuclei have revealed a very limited amount of surface water ice, which is insufficient to explain the observed water outgassing. This was clearly demonstrated on comet 9P/Tempel 1, where the dust jets (driven by volatiles) were only partially correlated with the exposed ice regions. The observations of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko have revealed that activity has a diurnal variation in intensity arising from changing insolation conditions. It was previously concluded that water vapour was generated in ice-rich subsurface layers with a transport mechanism linked to solar illumination, but that has not hitherto been observed. Periodic condensations of water vapour very close to, or on, the surface were suggested to explain short-lived outbursts seen near sunrise on comet 9P/Tempel 1. Here we report observations of water ice on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, appearing and disappearing in a cyclic pattern that follows local illumination conditions, providing a source of localized activity. This water cycle appears to be an important process in the evolution of the comet, leading to cyclical modification of the relative abundance of water ice on its surface.

Published
2015
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