Search Publications
Reconciling main belt asteroid spectral flux density measurements with a self-consistent thermophysical model
Choukroun, Mathieu; Janssen, Michael; Keihm, Stephen +4 more
Thermophysical models consistent with Earth’s Moon and infrared and submillimeter measurements obtained during the Rosetta fly-by of Asteroid (21) Lutetia have been applied to computations of thermal fluxes from Asteroids (4) Vesta, (1) Ceres, (2) Pallas, and (10) Hygiea. Comparisons are made with Earth- and space-based flux measurements that cove…
The thermo-chemical evolution of Asteroid 21 Lutetia
Neumann, Wladimir; Breuer, Doris; Spohn, Tilman
In the present study, we model the thermo-chemical evolution of Asteroid 21 Lutetia using new data obtained by the Rosetta flyby in July 2010. We investigate the dependence of the evolution on the accretion onset time and duration for both instantaneous accretion and continuous accretion scenarios, assuming late runaway material accumulation. The …
Dust in Comet 103P/Hartley 2 coma during EPOXI mission
Lasue, J.; Sen, A. K.; Gupta, R. +3 more
The Deep Impact spacecraft flew by Comet 103P/Hartley 2 on 4 November 2010 (EPOXI mission). In situ observations are complemented by a systematic ground- and space-based observation campaign. In the present work, imaging polarimetry is used to emphasize different dust regions in the coma and follow their evolution over a period including the EPOXI…
HMT production and sublimation during thermal process of cometary organic analogs. Implications for its detection with the ROSETTA instruments
Cottin, Hervé; Fray, Nicolas; Benilan, Yves +3 more
One important component of refractory organic residues synthesized from interstellar/cometary ice analogues is hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, C6H12N4). However, HMT has never been observed in any astrophysical or planetary environment so far. We investigated thermal evolution of HMT above ambient temperature. The syn…
Comparative analysis of airglow emissions in terrestrial planets, observed with VIRTIS-M instruments on board Rosetta and Venus Express
Piccioni, G.; Capaccioni, F.; Gérard, J. -C. +3 more
Airglow emissions are optimal processes to investigate the chemistry and dynamics in planetary atmospheres. In this study, we focus on the O2 and OH airglow emissions in Venus, Earth, and Mars atmospheres, which are controlled by chemical reactions common to the three planets. By studying these phenomena on Venus, Earth, and Mars using …
Comet 67P/CG: Influence of the sublimation coefficient on the temperature and outgassing
Markiewicz, Wojciech J.; Kossacki, Konrad J.
The sublimation rate of ice is commonly calculated using simple Hertz-Knudsen formula. This formula is derived from the kinetic theory of gases and ignores microphysical processes determining the actual sublimation rate. The microphysical processes can be accounted for by including in the Herz-Knudsen equation a temperature dependent sublimation c…
The influence of recent major crater impacts on the surrounding surfaces of (21) Lutetia
Jorda, L.; Kührt, E.; Thomas, N. +4 more
We present 3-D simulations of impacts into Asteroid 21 Lutetia, the subject of a fly-by by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Using a 3-D shape model of the asteroid, impacts of sizes sufficient to reproduce the observed craters in Lutetia’s North Polar Crater Cluster (NPCC) as observed by the OSIRIS ex…