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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/26089
Title: | Regional surface morphology of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta/OSIRIS images | Authors: | El-Maarry, M. R. Thomas, N. GIACOMINI, LIVIA Massironi, M. PAJOLA, MAURIZIO Marschall, R. Gracia-Berná, A. Sierks, H. Barbieri, C. Lamy, P. L. Rodrigo, R. Rickman, H. Koschny, D. Keller, H. U. Agarwal, J. A'Hearn, M. F. Auger, A. -T. Barucci, M. A. Bertaux, J. -L. Bertini, I. Besse, S. Bodewits, D. CREMONESE, Gabriele Da Deppo, V. Davidsson, B. De Cecco, M. Debei, S. Güttler, C. Fornasier, S. FULLE, Marco Groussin, O. Gutierrez, P. J. Hviid, S. F. Ip, W. -H. Jorda, L. Knollenberg, J. Kovacs, G. Kramm, J. -R. Kührt, E. Küppers, M. La Forgia, F. Lara, L. M. Lazzarin, M. Lopez Moreno, J. J. Marchi, S. Marzari, F. Michalik, H. Naletto, G. Oklay, N. Pommerol, A. Preusker, F. Scholten, F. Tubiana, C. Vincent, J. -B. |
Issue Date: | 2015 | Journal: | ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS | Number: | 583 | First Page: | A26 | Abstract: | The OSIRIS camera onboard the Rosetta spacecraft has been acquiring images of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P)'s nucleus at spatial resolutions down to ~0.17 m/px ever since Aug. 2014. These images have yielded unprecedented insight into the morphological diversity of the comet's surface. This paper presents an overview of the regional morphology of comet 67P. <BR /> Methods: We used the images that were acquired at orbits ~20-30 km from the center of the comet to distinguish different regions on the surface and introduce the basic regional nomenclature adopted by all papers in this Rosetta special feature that address the comet's morphology and surface processes. We used anaglyphs to detect subtle regional and topographical boundaries and images from close orbit (~10 km from the comet's center) to investigate the fine texture of the surface. <BR /> Results: Nineteen regions have currently been defined on the nucleus based on morphological and/or structural boundaries, and they can be grouped into distinctive region types. Consolidated, fractured regions are the most common region type. Some of these regions enclose smooth units that appear to settle in gravitational sinks or topographically low areas. Both comet lobes have a significant portion of their surface covered by a dusty coating that appears to be recently placed and shows signs of mobilization by aeolian-like processes. The dusty coatings cover most of the regions on the surface but are notably absent from a couple of irregular large depressions that show sharp contacts with their surroundings and talus-like deposits in their interiors, which suggests that short-term explosive activity may play a significant role in shaping the comet's surface in addition to long-term sublimation loss. Finally, the presence of layered brittle units showing signs of mechanical failure predominantly in one of the comet's lobes can indicate a compositional heterogeneity between the two lobes. | 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 Politéchnica 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. We also thank Carle Pieters for her insightful review of the paper. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/26089 | URL: | https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2015/11/aa25723-15/aa25723-15.html | ISSN: | 0004-6361 | DOI: | 10.1051/0004-6361/201525723 | Bibcode ADS: | 2015A&A...583A..26E | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
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