67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko active areas before perihelion identified by GIADA and VIRTIS data fusion
Fulle, M.; Erard, S.; Capaccioni, F.; Della Corte, V.; Rotundi, A.; Ivanovski, S.; Palumbo, P.; Filacchione, G.; Ciarniello, M.; Raponi, A.; Tosi, F.; Capria, M. T.; Longobardo, A.; Palomba, E.; Rinaldi, G.; Bockelee-Morvan, D.; Leyrat, C.; Zakharov, V.; Dirri, F.
Italy, France
Abstract
We characterized 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's cometary activity during its inbound arc before perihelion (2014 August-2015 January). We focused on the geomorphological regions of the Northern hemisphere observed by the ESA/Rosetta space probe during this time period. The GIADA dust detector characterized the physical properties of the fluffy and compact particles ejected from the nucleus; the VIRTIS imaging spectrometer detected exposed water ice.