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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Sublimation of icy aggregates in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko detected with the OSIRIS cameras on board Rosetta
M. De CeccoMarco FulleWing-huen IpLaurent JordaMarc HofmannM. F. A'hearnOlivier GroussinMichael KüppersStephen C. LowryHolger SierksS. F. HviidXian ShiJ. L. BertauxS. HöfnerS. HöfnerF. ScholtenJ. B. VincentNafiseh MasoumzadehDetlef KoschnyAntoine PommerolGiampiero NalettoNicolas ThomasIvano BertiniP. J. GutiérrezM. A. BarucciMaurizio PajolaNilda OklayX. HuCecilia TubianaV. Da DeppoEkkehard KührtMatteo MassironiMonica LazzarinF. MorenoCesare BarbieriMohamed Ramy El-maarryStefano MottolaGéza KovácsGéza KovácsHans RickmanFrancesco MarzariJakob DellerCarsten GüttlerZhong-yi LinH. U. KellerR. RodrigoR. RodrigoA. GicquelE. FrattinDennis BodewitsJ. J. Lopez MorenoB. J. R. DavidssonPhilippe LamyJ.-r. KrammSebastien BesseJörg KnollenbergImre TothImre TothSonia FornasierP. Gutiérrez-marquezF. PreuskerJessica AgarwalGabriele CremoneseL. M. LaraStefano Debeisubject
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoBrightness010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences530 PhysicsInfraredCometdata analysis[SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]Narrow angleComets: individual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; Methods: data analysis; Methods: numerical; Methods: observationalFOS: Physical sciencesEquinoxAstrophysics01 natural sciencesAstronomi astrofysik och kosmologiMethods: observationalMethods: data analysisindividual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko [Comets]0103 physical sciencesAstronomy Astrophysics and Cosmologyobservational [Methods]cometsdata analysis [Methods]010303 astronomy & astrophysics0105 earth and related environmental sciencesobservational method: numerical methodPhysicsEarth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)Comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkomethods: data analysis methods: numerical methods: observational comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenkonumerical [Methods]biology[SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]Methods: numerical520 AstronomyAstronomyAstronomy and Astrophysics620 Engineeringbiology.organism_classificationOn boardSpace and Planetary Science[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]Sublimation (phase transition)QB651OsirisAstrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysicsdescription
Beginning in 2014 March, the OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) cameras began capturing images of the nucleus and coma (gas and dust) of comet 67P/Churyumov¿Gerasimenko using both the wide angle camera (WAC) and the narrow angle camera (NAC). The many observations taken since July of 2014 have been used to study the morphology, location, and temporal variation of the comet's dust jets. We analysed the dust monitoring observations shortly after the southern vernal equinox on 2015 May 30 and 31 with the WAC at the heliocentric distance Rh = 1.53 AU, where it is possible to observe that the jet rotates with the nucleus. We found that the decline of brightness as a function of the distance of the jet is much steeper than the background coma, which is a first indication of sublimation. We adapted a model of sublimation of icy aggregates and studied the effect as a function of the physical properties of the aggregates (composition and size). The major finding of this paper was that through the sublimation of the aggregates of dirty grains (radius a between 5 and 50 ¿m) we were able to completely reproduce the radial brightness profile of a jet beyond 4 km from the nucleus. To reproduce the data, we needed to inject a number of aggregates between 8.5 × 1013 and 8.5 × 1010 for a = 5 and 50 ¿m, respectively, or an initial mass of H2O ice around 22 kg. © 2016 The Authors.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-01 |