Search Publications
A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010A2
Carry, Benoit; Weissman, Paul R.; Tubiana, Cecilia +16 more
The peculiar object P/2010A2 was discovered in January 2010 and given a cometary designation because of the presence of a trail of material, although there was no central condensation or coma. The appearance of this object, in an asteroidal orbit (small eccentricity and inclination) in the inner main asteroid belt attracted attention as a potentia…
Influence of spacecraft outgassing on the exploration of tenuous atmospheres with in situ mass spectrometry
Wurz, P.; Altwegg, K.; Balsiger, H. +10 more
In situ mass spectrometry has been a powerful tool in many space missions to investigate atmospheres and exospheres of different bodies in the solar system. Applying new technologies, the mass spectrometers have become increasingly more sensitive. In this study, we show that spacecraft outgassing, which can never be completely prevented, will be t…
E-Type Asteroid (2867) Steins as Imaged by OSIRIS on Board Rosetta
Jorda, L.; Bertaux, J. -L.; Lamy, P. +44 more
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission encountered the main-belt asteroid (2867) Steins while on its way to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Images taken with the OSIRIS (optical, spectroscopic, and infrared remote imaging system) cameras on board Rosetta show that Steins is an oblate body with an effective spherica…
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: the GIADA dust environment model of the Rosetta mission target
Fulle, M.; Agarwal, J.; Lopez Moreno, J. J. +13 more
Context. The ESA Rosetta spacecraft will reach the short-period comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. Orbiting strategy, orbiter safety conditions, landing scenarios and expected results from dust collectors depend on models of the 67P dust environment. Many papers already tackled this matter, analysing a limited set of observations, and theref…
The dust trail of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko between 2004 and 2006
Reach, William T.; Agarwal, Jessica; Grün, Eberhard +3 more
We report on observations of the dust trail of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG) in visible light with the Wide Field Imager at the ESO/MPG 2.2 m telescope at 4.7 AU before aphelion, and at 24µm with the MIPS instrument on board the Spitzer Space Telescope at 5.7 AU both before and after aphelion. The comet did not appear to be active dur…
Physical properties of the ESA Rosetta target asteroid (21) Lutetia. II. Shape and flyby geometry
Colas, F.; Fornasier, S.; Carry, B. +22 more
Aims: We determine the physical properties (spin state and shape) of asteroid (21) Lutetia, target of the International Rosetta Mission of the European Space Agency, to help in preparing for observations during the flyby on 2010 July 10 by predicting the orientation of Lutetia as seen from Rosetta.
Methods: We use our novel KOALA inversi…
Puzzling asteroid 21 Lutetia: our knowledge prior to the Rosetta fly-by
Barucci, M. A.; Fornasier, S.; Fulchignoni, M. +5 more
Aims: A wide observational campaign was carried out in 2004-2009 that aimed to complete the ground-based investigation of Lutetia prior to the Rosetta fly-by in July 2010.
Methods: We obtained BVRI photometric and V-band polarimetric measurements over a wide range of phase angles, and visible and infrared spectra in the 0.4-2.4 µm …
Polarimetric observations of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during its 2008-2009 apparition
Lasue, J.; Sen, A. K.; Gupta, R. +2 more
Context. Remote observations of the light scattered by comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko dust coma are of major importance for determining the physical properties of the particles and prepare the rendezvous with the ESA/Rosetta spacecraft in 2014.
Aims: Light scattering and especially linear polarization observations allow comparison between di…
The cratering history of asteroid (2867) Steins
Lamy, P.; Keller, H. U.; Mottola, S. +8 more
The cratering history of main belt asteroid (2867) Steins has been investigated using OSIRIS imagery acquired during the Rosetta flyby that took place on the 5th of September 2008. For this purpose, we applied current models describing the formation and evolution of main belt asteroids, that provide the rate and velocity distributions of impactors…
Shape and obliquity effects on the thermal evolution of the Rosetta target 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko cometary nucleus
Lasue, J.; Coradini, A.; De Sanctis, M. C. +3 more
This work is dedicated to the application to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko of a new quasi-3D approach for non-spherically shaped comet nuclei with the aim to interpret the current activity of the comet in terms of initial characteristics and to predict shape and internal stratification evolution of the nucleus. The model is applied to differently shap…