Search Publications
The primordial nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P. L.; Lara, L. M. +45 more
Context. We investigate the formation and evolution of comet nuclei and other trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in the solar nebula and primordial disk prior to the giant planet orbit instability foreseen by the Nice model.
Aims: Our goal is to determine whether most observed comet nuclei are primordial rubble-pile survivors that formed in the s…
Are fractured cliffs the source of cometary dust jets? Insights from OSIRIS/Rosetta at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P. L.; Lara, L. M. +52 more
Context. Dust jets (I.e., fuzzy collimated streams of cometary material arising from the nucleus) have been observed in situ on all comets since the Giotto mission flew by comet 1P/Halley in 1986, and yet their formation mechanism remains unknown. Several solutions have been proposed involving either specific properties of the active areas or the …
First detection of a diamagnetic cavity at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Altwegg, K.; Glassmeier, K. -H.; Nilsson, H. +16 more
Context. The Rosetta magnetometer RPC-MAG has been exploring the plasma environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko since August 2014. The first months were dominated by low-frequency waves which evolved into more complex features. However, at the end of July 2015, close to perihelion, the magnetometer detected a region that did not contain any…
Three-dimensional direct simulation Monte-Carlo modeling of the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko observed by the VIRTIS and ROSINA instruments on board Rosetta
Altwegg, K.; Huang, Z.; Erard, S. +26 more
Context. Since its rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P), the Rosetta spacecraft has provided invaluable information contributing to our understanding of the cometary environment. On board, the VIRTIS and ROSINA instruments can both measure gas parameters in the rarefied cometary atmosphere, the so-called coma, and provide compleme…
A rigorous detection of interstellar CH3NCO: An important missing species in astrochemical networks
Cernicharo, J.; Tercero, B.; Guillemin, J. -C. +8 more
The recent analysis of the composition of the frozen surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has revealed a significant number of complex organic molecules. Methyl isocyanate (CH3NCO) is one of the more abundant species detected on the comet surface. In this work we report extensive characterization of its rotational spectrum resulti…
Detection of exposed H2O ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. as observed by Rosetta OSIRIS and VIRTIS instruments
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P. L.; Bertaux, J. -L. +63 more
Context. Since the orbital insertion of the Rosetta spacecraft, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) has been mapped by OSIRIS camera and VIRTIS spectro-imager, producing a huge quantity of images and spectra of the comet's nucleus.
Aims: The aim of this work is to search for the presence of H2O on the nucleus which, in general, a…
Regional surface morphology of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta/OSIRIS images: The southern hemisphere
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P. L.; Lara, L. M. +49 more
Aims: The OSIRIS camera on board the Rosetta spacecraft has been acquiring images of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P)'s nucleus since August 2014. Starting in May 2015, the southern hemisphere gradually became illuminated and was imaged for the first time. Here we present the regional morphology of the southern hemisphere, which serv…
Water and carbon dioxide distribution in the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko coma from VIRTIS-M infrared observations
Erard, S.; Crovisier, J.; Piccioni, G. +14 more
Context. Studying the coma environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) is one of the primary scientific goals of the VIRTIS experiment on the ESA Rosetta mission.
Aims: The distribution and variability of water vapour and carbon dioxide in the comet's coma are needed to estimate their production rate, abundances in the nucleus, and t…
Sunset jets observed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sustained by subsurface thermal lag
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P. L.; Lara, L. M. +46 more
We present observations of sunset jets on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by Rosetta/OSIRIS camera. In late April 2015, when the comet was at a heliocentric distance of ~1.8 AU, clusters of dust jets that originated in the Ma'at region on the comet's small lobe were identified from multipleimages and were apparently sustained for about an hour bey…
Modelling observations of the inner gas and dust coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko using ROSINA/COPS and OSIRIS data: First results
Jorda, L.; Altwegg, K.; Shi, X. +19 more
Context. This paper describes the initial modelling of gas and dust data acquired in August and September 2014 from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft when it was in close proximity to the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Aims: This work is an attempt to provide a self-consistent model of the innermost gas and dust coma…