Search Publications
Images of Asteroid 21 Lutetia: A Remnant Planetesimal from the Early Solar System
Jorda, L.; Pätzold, M.; Bertaux, J. -L. +55 more
Images obtained by the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) cameras onboard the Rosetta spacecraft reveal that asteroid 21 Lutetia has a complex geology and one of the highest asteroid densities measured so far, 3.4 ± 0.3 grams per cubic centimeter. The north pole region is covered by a thick layer of regolith, which…
The Surface Composition and Temperature of Asteroid 21 Lutetia As Observed by Rosetta/VIRTIS
Langevin, Y.; Bellucci, G.; Jaumann, R. +46 more
The Visible, InfraRed, and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Rosetta obtained hyperspectral images, spectral reflectance maps, and temperature maps of the asteroid 21 Lutetia. No absorption features, of either silicates or hydrated minerals, have been detected across the observed area in the spectral range from 0.4 to 3.5 micrometers. The s…
Rosetta-Alice observations of exospheric hydrogen and oxygen on Mars
Parker, Joel Wm.; Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Weaver, Harold A. +9 more
The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, en route to a 2014 encounter with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, made a gravity assist swing-by of Mars on 25 February 2007, closest approach being at 01:54 UT. The Alice instrument on board Rosetta, a lightweight far-ultraviolet imaging spectrograph optimized for in situ cometary spectroscopy in t…
Numerical Simulation of Dust in a Cometary Coma: Application to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Combi, Michael R.; Rubin, Martin; Tenishev, Valeriy
The Rosetta spacecraft is en route to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for a rendezvous, landing, and extensive orbital phase beginning in 2014. With a limited amount of available observational data, planning of the mission as well as the interpretation of measurements obtained by instruments on board the spacecraft requires modeling of the dusty/g…
Asteroid 21 Lutetia: Low Mass, High Density
Pätzold, M.; Lamy, P.; Sierks, H. +9 more
Asteroid 21 Lutetia was approached by the Rosetta spacecraft on 10 July 2010. The additional Doppler shift of the spacecraft radio signals imposed by 21 Lutetia’s gravitational perturbation on the flyby trajectory were used to determine the mass of the asteroid. Calibrating and correcting for all Doppler contributions not associated with Lutetia, …
High precision thermal modeling of complex systems with application to the flyby and Pioneer anomaly
Rievers, B.; Lämmerzahl, C.
Thermal modeling of complex systems faces the problems of an effective digitalization of the detailed geometry and properties of the system, calculation of the thermal flows and temperature maps, treatment of the thermal radiation including possible multiple reflections, inclusion of additional external influences, extraction of the radiation pres…
New insight into the formation of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) in interstellar and cometary ice analogs
Vinogradoff, V.; Duvernay, F.; Danger, G. +2 more
Aims: We investigate the purely thermal formation of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, C6H12N4) in interstellar ice analogs from non-photolysed ice and compare our results with those for the formation from photolysed ice.
Methods: We use Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy to follow residue formation from …
Asteroid (21) Lutetia as a remnant of Earth’s precursor planetesimals
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P.; Groussin, O. +7 more
Isotopic and chemical compositions of meteorites, coupled with dynamical simulations, suggest that the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter contains objects formed in situ as well as a population of interlopers. These interlopers are predicted to include the building blocks of the terrestrial planets as well as objects that formed beyon…
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko activity evolution during its last perihelion before the Rosetta encounter
Lara, L. M.; Rodrigo, R.; Ip, W. -H. +1 more
Context. The comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, target of the Rosetta Mission (ESA) was monitored from January to April 2009 during its last perihelion passage before the Rosetta spacecraft encounters the comet nucleus in May 2014. Photometric data were obtained only from January 25 to March 19, 2009 and they were used to monitor the comet gas and d…
Transient Pc3 wave activity generated by a hot flow anomaly: Cluster, Rosetta, and ground-based observations
Glassmeier, K. -H.; Eastwood, J. P.; Wild, J. A. +6 more
Pc3 pulsations are observed in the magnetosphere with wave periods of 10-45 s. Two distinct populations have been observed; one exhibits a frequency dependence on the solar wind magnetic field strength, whereas the other does not. The first population is explained in terms of a model where the bow shock reflects ions which generate upstream foresh…