Search Publications
The dust environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Rauer, H.; Fulle, M.; Barbieri, C. +4 more
The new target of the ESA Rosetta Mission is comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which passed its last perihelion on 18 August 2002 and was well observed from fall 2002 to spring 2003. Its most prominent feature was a thin dust tail, which is best fitted by the Neck-Line model. Fits of the whole tail provide the dust environment of 67P during a year …
UV-photoprocessing of interstellar ice analogs: Detection of hexamethylenetetramine-based species
Schutte, W. A.; Greenberg, J. M.; Muñoz Caro, G. M. +2 more
The physical conditions governing the dense cloud environment are reproduced in a high vacuum experimental setup at low temperature T ≈ 12 K. The accretion and photoprocessing of ices on grain surfaces is simulated by depositing an ice layer on a cold finger, while it is irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) photons. After irradiation the sample is slowl…
Rosetta target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Postperihelion gas and dust production rates
Schulz, R.; Boehnhardt, H.; Stüwe, J. A.
The evolution of the activity and composition of the coma of ROSETTA target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was studied along its postperihelion orbit from 2.29 AU to 3.22 AU. The comet had a major drop of activity between 2.5 AU and 2.9 AU, which manifested most obviously in its light curve (the brightness decreased by 3 mag), but is also confirm…
Optical observations of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Rauer, H.; Weiler, M.; Helbert, J.
From longslit spectra obtained during the 1996 perihelion passage of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a CN production rate of (1.35 ± 0.35) × 1025 molecules s-1 was determined and an upper limit for the C3 production rate of 1 × 1025 molecules s-1 was derived. The dust color and dust activity …
Visible spectral properties of asteroid 21 Lutetia, target of Rosetta Mission
Barbieri, C.; Lazzarin, M.; Marchi, S. +1 more
Rosetta spacecraft was successfully launched on March 2nd 2004 after its launch postponement in January 2003. Owing to this delay all the original targets, comet and asteroids, have been changed. In particular, on its 10 years journey to the new comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the spacecraft will pass close to the asteroid 21 Lutetia. In this pap…
Dust production and coma morphology of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during the 2002/2003 apparition. II. A comparative study of dust production in 46P/Wirtanen and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during their 2002/2003 apparition
Kidger, M. R.
A comparison is made of the light curves and and dust production of the initial target for the ROSETTA mission, 46P/Wirtanen and the new target 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during their recent 2002/2003 apparition. The study is based on amateur CCD monitoring using a standardised method to produce consistent photometry in Johnson-Kron-Cousins system.…