Rosetta's comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sheds ist dusty mantle to reveal ist icy nature

Fornasier, S. and Mottola, S. and Keller, H. U. and Barucci, M. A. and Davidsson, B. and Feller, Clement and Deshapriya Sonia, j.d.p. and Sierks, H. and Barbieri, C. and Lamy, P. and Rodrigo, Rafael and Koschny, Detlef and Rickman, Hans and A'Hearn, M. F. and Agarwal, J. and Bertaux, J.-L. and Bertini, I. and Besse, Sebastien and Cremonese, G. and Da Deppo, V. and De Cecco, M. and Deller, J. and El-Maary, M.R. and Fulle, M. and Groussin, Olivier and Gutierrez, P.J. and Güttler, C. and Hofmann, M. and Hviid, S. and Ip, W-H. and Jorda, L. and Knollenberg, J. and Kovacs, G. and Kramm, J. R. and Kührt, E. and Küppers, Michael and Lara López, Luisa M. and Lazzarin, M. and Lopez Moreno, J. and Marzari, F. and Massironi, Matteo and Naletto, G. and Oklay, Nilda and Pajola, M. and Pommerol, Antoine and Preusker, Frank and Scholten, Frank and Shi, X. and Thomas, N. and Toth, I. and Tubiana, C. and Vincent, Jean-Baptiste (2016) Rosetta's comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sheds ist dusty mantle to reveal ist icy nature. Science, 235, pp. 1566-1570. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). doi: 10.1126/science.aag2671. ISSN 0036-8075.

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Abstract

The Rosetta spacecraft has investigated comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from large heliocentric distances to its perihelion passage and beyond. We trace the seasonal and diurnal evolution of the colors of the 67P nucleus, finding changes driven by sublimation and recondensation of water ice. The whole nucleus became relatively bluer near perihelion, as increasing activity removed the surface dust, implying that water ice is widespread underneath the surface. We identified large (1500 square meters) ice-rich patches appearing and then vanishing in about 10 days, indicating small-scale heterogeneities on the nucleus. Thin frosts sublimating in a few minutes are observed close to receding shadows, and rapid variations in color are seen on extended areas close to the terminator. These cyclic processes are widespread and lead to continuously, slightly varying surface properties.

Item URL in elib:

https://elib.dlr.de/113314/

Document Type:

Article

Title:

Rosetta's comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sheds ist dusty mantle to reveal ist icy nature

Authors:

Authors	Institution or Email of Authors	Author's ORCID iD	ORCID Put Code
Fornasier, S.	observatoire de paris-meudon, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Mottola, S.	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0457-3872	UNSPECIFIED
Keller, H. U.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Barucci, M. A.	observatoire de paris, meudon, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Davidsson, B.	astronomiska observatoriet, uppsala, sweden	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Feller, Clement	lesia, observatoire de paris, cnrs, upmc univ paris 06, univ. paris-diderot, 5 place j. janssen, 92195 meudon pricipal cedex, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Deshapriya Sonia, j.d.p.	observatoire de paris-meudon, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Sierks, H.	max-planck-institut für sonnensystemforschung, katlenburg-lindau, germany	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Barbieri, C.	university of padova, padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Lamy, P.	laboratoire d'astronomie spatiale, marseille, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Rodrigo, Rafael	instituto de astrofisica de andalucia	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Koschny, Detlef	estec, the netherlands	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Rickman, Hans	uppsala astronomical observatory	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
A'Hearn, M. F.	university of maryland, department of astronomy, maryland, usa	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Agarwal, J.	max-planck-institut für sonnensystemforschung	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Bertaux, J.-L.	laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales, cnrs/uvsq/upmc, 11 boulevard d’alembert, 78280 guyancourt, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Bertini, I.	dipartimento di astronomia, università di padova, padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Besse, Sebastien	scientific support office, european space agency, 2201, noordwijk, netherlands.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Cremonese, G.	osservatorio astronomico, padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Da Deppo, V.	consiglio nazionale delle ricerche-istituto nazionale per la fisica della materia, luxor, padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
De Cecco, M.	università di padova, center of studies and activities of space (cisas) "g.colombo", padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Deller, J.	mps	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
El-Maary, M.R.	physikalisches institut, sidlerstr. 5, university of bern, 3012 bern, switzerland	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Fulle, M.	inaf - osservatorio astronomico di trieste, trieste, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Groussin, Olivier	lab. d'astrophysique de marseille, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Gutierrez, P.J.	iaa-csic, granada, spain	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Güttler, C.	max-planck-institut für sonnensystemforschung	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Hofmann, M.	max-planck-institut für sonnensystemforschung, göttingen, germany	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Hviid, S.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Ip, W-H.	institute for space science, national central university, chung li, taiwan	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Jorda, L.	laboratoire d'astrophysique de marseille, france	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Knollenberg, J.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Kovacs, G.	max–planck–institut für sonnensystemforschung, justus–von–	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Kramm, J. R.	max planck institute for solar systems research, katlenburg-lindau, germany	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Kührt, E.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Küppers, Michael	max-planck-institut für sonnensystemforschung	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Lara López, Luisa M.	iaa-csic granada, spain	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Lazzarin, M.	department of astronomy, university of padua	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Lopez Moreno, J.	instituto de astrofifica de andalucia-consejo superior de investigaciones cientificas, granada, spain	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Marzari, F.	università di padova, departimento di fisica, padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Massironi, Matteo	inaf, padova, i	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Naletto, G.	università di padova, departimento di elettronica et informatica, padova, italy	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Oklay, Nilda	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4909-9692	UNSPECIFIED
Pajola, M.	cisas - center for studies and activities for space, university of padova	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Pommerol, Antoine	physikalisches institut, sidlerstrasse 5, university of bern, 3012, bern, switzerland	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Preusker, Frank	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9005-4202	UNSPECIFIED
Scholten, Frank	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Shi, X.	technical university berlin, germany ; shanghai astronomical observatory, shanghai, china,	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Thomas, N.	max-planck-institut für aeronomie, katlenburg-lindau	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Toth, I.	konkoly observatory, mta csfk csi	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Tubiana, C.	max-planck-institut fuer sonnensystemforschung, germany	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Vincent, Jean-Baptiste	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6575-3079	UNSPECIFIED

Date:

2016

Journal or Publication Title:

Science

Refereed publication:

Yes

Open Access:

Gold Open Access:

In SCOPUS:

Yes

In ISI Web of Science:

Yes

Volume:

235

DOI:

10.1126/science.aag2671

Page Range:

pp. 1566-1570

Publisher:

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

ISSN:

0036-8075

Status:

Published

Keywords:

comet; rosetta, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, data

HGF - Research field:

Aeronautics, Space and Transport

HGF - Program:

Space

HGF - Program Themes:

Space Exploration

DLR - Research area:

Raumfahrt

DLR - Program:

R EW - Space Exploration

DLR - Research theme (Project):

R - Project ROSETTA Instruments (old), R - Projekt ROSETTA Lander (old)

Location:

Berlin-Adlershof

Institutes and Institutions:

Institute of Planetary Research > Asteroids and Comets
Institute of Planetary Research > Planetary Geodesy

Deposited By:

Schubert, Renate

Deposited On:

18 Sep 2017 14:01

Last Modified:

01 Dec 2018 19:52

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