Search Publications
Volatile exposures on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko nucleus
Fulle, M.; Fornasier, S.; Ciarniello, M. +2 more
Aims: We present the most extensive catalog of exposures of volatiles on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko nucleus generated from observations acquired with the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) on board the Rosetta mission. We investigate the volatile exposure distribution across the nucleus, their size distribu…
Oxygen-bearing organic molecules in comet 67P's dusty coma: First evidence for abundant heterocycles
Altwegg, K.; Fuselier, S. A.; Rubin, M. +6 more
The puzzling complexity of terrestrial biomolecules is driving the search for complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) and serves as a motivation for many in situ studies of reservoirs of extraterrestrial organics, from meteorites and interplanetary dust particles to comets and asteroids. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P), th…
Coma composition of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from radio-wave spectroscopy
Crovisier, J.; Biver, N.; Bockelée-Morvan, D. +11 more
We present the results of a molecular survey of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko undertaken with the Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m radio telescope in November-December 2021, when it had its most favourable apparition in decades. Observations at IRAM 30-m during the 12-16 November period covered 8 GHz bandwidth at 3 mm, 16 GH…
ALMA ACA study of the H2S/OCS ratio in low-mass protostars
Tabone, Benoît; Drozdovskaya, Maria N.; Tychoniec, Łukasz +1 more
Context. The identification of the main sulfur reservoir on its way from the diffuse interstellar medium to the cold dense star-forming cores and, ultimately, to protostars is a long-standing problem. Despite sulfur's astrochemical relevance, the abundance of S-bearing molecules in dense cores and regions around protostars is still insufficiently …
Activity distribution of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from combined measurements of non-gravitational forces and torques
Jorda, L.; Agarwal, J.; Groussin, O. +5 more
Aims: Understanding the activity is vital for deciphering the structure, formation, and evolution of comets. We investigate models of cometary activity by comparing them to the dynamics of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Methods: We matched simple thermal models of water activity to the combined Rosetta datasets by fitting to the total outgas…
First detection of CHD2OH towards pre-stellar cores
Caselli, P.; Spezzano, S.; Lin, Y.
The inheritance of material across the star and planet formation process is traced by deuterium fractionation. We report here the first detection of doubly deuterated methanol towards pre-stellar cores. We study the deuterium fractionation of methanol, CH3OH, towards two starless and two pre-stellar cores. We derive a D/H ratio of 0.8-1…
Particle-in-cell modelling of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Spatial structures of densities and electric fields
Goetz, Charlotte; Gunell, Herbert
Context. Sufficiently far from the Sun, all comets go through a phase of low activity. Rosetta observations at large heliocentric distances of approximately 3 au showed that the plasma at a low-activity comet is affected by both steady state electric fields and low-frequency waves.
Aims: Our goal is to provide a model for the electric fields …
Low NH3/H2O ratio in comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) at 0.7 au from the Sun
McGuire, Brett A.; Drozdovskaya, Maria N.; Opitom, Cyrielle +7 more
Context. A lower-than-solar elemental nitrogen content has been demonstrated for several comets, including 1P/Halley and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) with independent in situ measurements of volatile and refractory budgets. The recently discovered semi-refractory ammonium salts in 67P/C-G are thought to be the missing nitrogen reservoir in …
Cometary dust collected by MIDAS on board Rosetta. I. Dust particle catalog and statistics
Bentley, M. S.; Mannel, T.; Longobardo, A. +5 more
Context. The Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System (MIDAS) atomic force microscope (AFM) on board the Rosetta comet orbiter has been dedicated to the collection and 3D topographical investigation of cometary dust in the size range of a few hundreds of nanometers to tens of micrometers with a resolution down to a few nanometers.
Aims: We aim to c…
Cometary dust collected by MIDAS on board Rosetta. II. Particle shape descriptors and pristineness evaluation
Lasue, J.; Bentley, M. S.; Mannel, T. +4 more
Context. The MIDAS (Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System) atomic force microscope on board the Rosetta comet orbiter investigated and measured the 3D topography of a few hundred of nm to tens of µm sized dust particles of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with resolutions down to a few nanometers, giving insights into the physical processes of our ear…