1. Bilobate comet morphology and internal structure controlled by shear deformation
- Author
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Carsten Güttler, F. Preusker, Dennis Bodewits, Alice Lucchetti, Philippe Lamy, J.-B. Vincent, H. U. Keller, D. Nébouy, Björn Davidsson, A. T. Auger, Matteo Massironi, Stefano Debei, Cecilia Tubiana, F. La Forgia, Stubbe F. Hviid, Hans Rickman, M. De Cecco, Luca Penasa, M. A. Barucci, L. M. Lara, Nilda Oklay, C. Matonti, Nicholas Attree, J. L. Bertaux, Olivier Groussin, Sophie Viseur, Monica Lazzarin, Maurizio Pajola, Imre Toth, Francesco Marzari, Ivano Bertini, R. Rodrigo, Jakob Deller, Sylvain Bouley, Sonia Fornasier, Holger Sierks, V. Da Deppo, J. J. Lopez-Moreno, Wing-Huen Ip, Laurent Jorda, Giampiero Naletto, G. Cremonese, Frank Scholten, Marco Fulle, Xian Shi, Stefano Mottola, P. J. Gutierrez, Detlef Koschny, Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 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), Faculty of Natural Sciences [Stirling], University of Stirling, DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), Géosciences Paris Sud (GEOPS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali 'Giuseppe Colombo' (CISAS), Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia 'Galileo Galilei', CNR Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie [Padova] (IFN), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), 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), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), 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)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Physics [Auburn], Auburn University (AU), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), Department of Industrial Engineering [Padova], University of Trento [Trento], INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OAT), Institute of Space Science [Taiwan], National Central University [Taiwan] (NCU), Institute of Astronomy [Taiwan] (IANCU), Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik [Braunschweig] (IGEP), Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Dipartimento di Geoscienze [Padova], Department of Physics and Astronomy [Uppsala], Uppsala University, Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences [Budapest], Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA)-Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), national funding agency of Germany (DLR), national funding agency of France (CNES), national funding agency of Italy (ASI), national funding agency of Spain (MEC), national funding agency of Sweden (SNSB), ESA Technical Directorate, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Collège de France (CdF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), 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), IMPEC - LATMOS, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), Universita degli Studi di Padova, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Spain] (CSIC), European Space Agency (ESA)-European Space Agency (ESA), California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Technische Universität Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), and Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
- Subjects
Solar System ,[SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,3d analysis ,Comet ,Geophysics ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,01 natural sciences ,rosetta ,Shear (geology) ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,13. Climate action ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Sublimation (phase transition) ,Water ice ,[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) ,Geology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Bilobate comets—small icy bodies with two distinct lobes—are a common configuration among comets, but the factors shaping these bodies are largely unknown. Cometary nuclei, the solid centres of comets, erode by ice sublimation when they are sufficiently close to the Sun, but the importance of a comet’s internal structure on its erosion is unclear. Here we present three-dimensional analyses of images from the Rosetta mission to illuminate the process that shaped the Jupiter-family bilobate comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko over billions of years. We show that the comet’s surface and interior exhibit shear-fracture and fault networks, on spatial scales of tens to hundreds of metres. Fractures propagate up to 500 m below the surface through a mechanically homogeneous material. Through fracture network analysis and stress modelling, we show that shear deformation generates fracture networks that control mechanical surface erosion, particularly in the strongly marked neck trough of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, exposing its interior. We conclude that shear deformation shapes and structures the surface and interior of bilobate comets, particularly in the outer Solar System where water ice sublimation is negligible. The shape and internal structure of bilobate comet 67P is controlled by shear deformation inducing mechanically driven erosion along shear fracture networks, according to a 3D analysis of images from the Rosetta mission.
- Published
- 2019