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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/23655
Title: | Fractures on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko observed by Rosetta/OSIRIS | Authors: | El-Maarry, M. R. Thomas, N. Gracia-Berná, A. Marschall, R. Auger, A. -T. Groussin, O. Mottola, S. PAJOLA, MAURIZIO Massironi, M. Marchi, S. Höfner, S. Preusker, F. Scholten, F. Jorda, L. Kührt, E. Keller, H. U. Sierks, H. A'Hearn, M. F. Barbieri, C. Barucci, M. A. Bertaux, J. -L. Bertini, I. CREMONESE, Gabriele Da Deppo, V. Davidsson, B. Debei, S. De Cecco, M. Deller, J. Güttler, C. Fornasier, S. FULLE, Marco Gutierrez, P. J. Hofmann, M. Hviid, S. F. Ip, W. -H. Knollenberg, J. Koschny, D. Kovacs, G. Kramm, J. -R. Küppers, M. Lamy, P. L. Lara, L. M. Lazzarin, M. Lopez Moreno, J. J. Marzari, F. Michalik, H. Naletto, G. Oklay, N. Pommerol, A. Rickman, H. Rodrigo, R. Tubiana, C. Vincent, J. -B. |
Issue Date: | 2015 | Journal: | GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS | Number: | 42 | Issue: | 13 | First Page: | 5170 | Abstract: | The Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) experiment onboard the Rosetta spacecraft currently orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has yielded unprecedented views of a comet's nucleus. We present here the first ever observations of meter-scale fractures on the surface of a comet. Some of these fractures form polygonal networks. We present an initial assessment of their morphology, topology, and regional distribution. Fractures are ubiquitous on the surface of the comet's nucleus. Furthermore, they occur in various settings and show different topologies suggesting numerous formation mechanisms, which include thermal insulation weathering, orbital-induced stresses, and possibly seasonal thermal contraction. However, we conclude that thermal insolation weathering is responsible for creating most of the observed fractures based on their morphology and setting in addition to thermal models that indicate diurnal temperature ranges exceeding 200 K and thermal gradients of ~15 K/min at perihelion are possible. Finally, we suggest that fractures could be a facilitator in surface evolution and long-term erosion. | Acknowledgments: | Acknowledgments OSIRIS was built by a consortium of the Max‐Planck‐Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, in Göttingen, Germany; CISAS‐University of Padova, Italy; the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, France; the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucia, CSIC, Granada, Spain; the Research and Scientific Support Department of the European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands; the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Madrid, Spain; the Universidad Politćhnica de Madrid, Spain; the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Uppsala University, Sweden; and the Institut für Datentechnik und Kommunikationsnetze der Technischen Universität Braunschweig, Germany. The support of the national funding agencies of Germany (DLR), France (CNES), Italy (ASI), Spain (MEC), Sweden (SNSB), and the ESA Technical Directorate is gratefully acknowledged. We thank the ESA teams at ESAC, ESOC, and ESTEC for their work in support of the Rosetta mission. The images used in this study will be released through ESA's Planetary Science Archive ( http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php?project=PSApage=rosetta ). They are available through the first author upon request using the image IDs mentioned in the study. The authors would also like to thank Jamie Molaro and an anonymous reviewer for their critical review of the paper. The Editor thanks Andrew Cheng and an anonymous reviewer for their assistance in evaluating this paper. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/23655 | URL: | https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015GL064500 | ISSN: | 0094-8276 | DOI: | 10.1002/2015GL064500 | Bibcode ADS: | 2015GeoRL..42.5170E | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
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2015GL064500.pdf | pdf editoriale | 4.38 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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