Cometary science. The morphological diversity of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Nicolas Thomas; Holger Sierks; Cesare Barbieri; Philippe L Lamy; Rafael Rodrigo; Hans Rickman; Detlef Koschny; Horst Uwe Keller; Jessica Agarwal; Michael F A'Hearn; Francesco Angrilli; Anne-Therese Auger; M Antonella Barucci; Jean-Loup Bertaux; Ivano Bertini; Sebastien Besse; Dennis Bodewits; Gabriele Cremonese; Vania Da Deppo; Björn Davidsson; Mariolino De Cecco; Stefano Debei; Mohamed Ramy El-Maarry; Francesca Ferri; Sonia Fornasier; Marco Fulle; Lorenza Giacomini; Olivier Groussin; Pedro J Gutierrez; Carsten Güttler; Stubbe F Hviid; Wing-Huen Ip; Laurent Jorda; Jörg Knollenberg; J-Rainer Kramm; Ekkehard Kührt; Michael Küppers; Fiorangela La Forgia; Luisa M Lara; Monica Lazzarin; Josè J Lopez Moreno; Sara Magrin; Simone Marchi; Francesco Marzari; Matteo Massironi; Harald Michalik; Richard Moissl; Stefano Mottola; Giampiero Naletto; Nilda Oklay; Maurizio Pajola; Antoine Pommerol; Frank Preusker; Lola Sabau; Frank Scholten; Colin Snodgrass; Cecilia Tubiana; Jean-Baptiste Vincent; Klaus-Peter Wenzel

doi:10.1126/science.aaa0440

Cometary science. The morphological diversity of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Science. 2015 Jan 23;347(6220):aaa0440. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa0440.

Authors

Nicolas Thomas¹, Holger Sierks², Cesare Barbieri³, Philippe L Lamy⁴, Rafael Rodrigo⁵, Hans Rickman⁶, Detlef Koschny⁷, Horst Uwe Keller⁸, Jessica Agarwal², Michael F A'Hearn⁹, Francesco Angrilli¹⁰, Anne-Therese Auger¹¹, M Antonella Barucci¹², Jean-Loup Bertaux¹³, Ivano Bertini¹⁴, Sebastien Besse⁷, Dennis Bodewits⁹, Gabriele Cremonese¹⁵, Vania Da Deppo¹⁶, Björn Davidsson¹⁷, Mariolino De Cecco¹⁸, Stefano Debei¹⁰, Mohamed Ramy El-Maarry¹⁹, Francesca Ferri¹⁴, Sonia Fornasier¹², Marco Fulle²⁰, Lorenza Giacomini²¹, Olivier Groussin¹¹, Pedro J Gutierrez²², Carsten Güttler², Stubbe F Hviid²³, Wing-Huen Ip²⁴, Laurent Jorda²⁵, Jörg Knollenberg²⁶, J-Rainer Kramm², Ekkehard Kührt²⁶, Michael Küppers²⁷, Fiorangela La Forgia³, Luisa M Lara²², Monica Lazzarin³, Josè J Lopez Moreno²², Sara Magrin³, Simone Marchi²⁸, Francesco Marzari³, Matteo Massironi²⁹, Harald Michalik³⁰, Richard Moissl²⁷, Stefano Mottola²⁶, Giampiero Naletto³¹, Nilda Oklay², Maurizio Pajola¹⁴, Antoine Pommerol¹⁹, Frank Preusker²⁶, Lola Sabau³², Frank Scholten²⁶, Colin Snodgrass³³, Cecilia Tubiana², Jean-Baptiste Vincent², Klaus-Peter Wenzel⁷

Affiliations

¹ Physikalisches Institut, Sidlerstrasse 5, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland. nicolas.thomas@space.unibe.ch.
² Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg, 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy.
⁴ Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR 7326, CNRS, and Aix Marseille Université, 38 Rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille Cedex 13, France.
⁵ International Space Science Institute, Hallerstraße 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland, and Centro de Astrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas - Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain.
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden, and Polish Academy of Sciences Space Research Center, Bartycka 18A, PL-00716 Warszawa, Poland.
⁷ Scientific Support Office, European Space Agency, 2201, Noordwijk, Netherlands.
⁸ Institute for Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Planetenforschung, Asteroiden und Kometen, Rutherfordstraße 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy.
¹¹ Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR 7326, 38 rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille, France.
¹² Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris 06, Université Paris-Diderot, 5 Place J. Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France.
¹³ Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, CNRS/UVSQ/IPSL, 11 Boulevard d'Alembert, 78280, Guyancourt, France.
¹⁴ Centro di Ateneo di Studi ed Attivitá Spaziali, "Giuseppe Colombo" (CISAS), University of Padova, Via Venezia 15, 35131 Padova, Italy.
¹⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy.
¹⁶ CNR-IFN UOS Padova LUXOR, Via Trasea, 7, 35131 Padova, Italy.
¹⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden.
¹⁸ UNITN, Universitá di Trento, Via Mesiano, 77, 38100 Trento, Italy.
¹⁹ Physikalisches Institut, Sidlerstrasse 5, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁰ INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico, Via Tiepolo 11, 34014 Trieste, Italy.
²¹ Dipartimento di Geoscienze, University of Padova, via G. Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy.
²² Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), c/ Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain.
²³ Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Planetenforschung, Asteroiden und Kometen, Rutherfordstraße 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany. Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg, 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
²⁴ National Central University, Graduate Institute of Astronomy, 300 Chung-Da Road, Chung-Li 32054, Taiwan.
²⁵ Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, 38 Rue de Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille Cedex 13, France.
²⁶ Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Planetenforschung, Asteroiden und Kometen, Rutherfordstraße 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
²⁷ Science Operations Department, European Space Astronomy Centre/European Space Agency, Post Office Box 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid, Spain.
²⁸ Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
²⁹ Dipartimento di Geoscienze, University of Padova, via G. Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy. Centro di Ateneo di Studi ed Attivitá Spaziali, "Giuseppe Colombo" (CISAS), University of Padova, Via Venezia 15, 35131 Padova, Italy.
³⁰ Institut für Datentechnik und Kommunikationsnetze der Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Strasse 66, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
³¹ University of Padova, Department of Information Engineering, Via Gradenigo 6/B, 35131 Padova, Italy. CNR-IFN UOS Padova LUXOR, Via Trasea, 7, 35131 Padova, Italy. Centro di Ateneo di Studi ed Attivitá Spaziali, "Giuseppe Colombo" (CISAS), University of Padova, Via Venezia 15, 35131 Padova, Italy.
³² Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, Carretera de Ajalvir, 28850 Torrejon de Ardoz (Madrid), Spain.
³³ Planetary and Space Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK. Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg, 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.

PMID: 25613893
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa0440

Abstract

Images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko acquired by the OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System) imaging system onboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft at scales of better than 0.8 meter per pixel show a wide variety of different structures and textures. The data show the importance of airfall, surface dust transport, mass wasting, and insolation weathering for cometary surface evolution, and they offer some support for subsurface fluidization models and mass loss through the ejection of large chunks of material.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.