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| Titel |
Surface changes on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko indicating possible seasonality in the erosion of the dust mantle |
| VerfasserIn |
Xuanyu Hu, Xian Shi, Holger Sierks, Jürgen Blum, Jean-Baptiste Vincent, Nilda Oklay, Matteo Massironi, Carsten Güttler, Cecilia Tubiana, Björn Davidsson, Olivier Groussin |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250134301
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-15004.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| We present Rosetta/OSIRIS observations of certain surface changes in the northern hemisphere of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the period from September 2014 to April 2015. These changes are manifest dominantly as "honeycomb" features, associated with outstanding macroscopic surface roughness on spatial scales ranging from ~0.1 m up to ~10 m that originated in the formerly smooth dust deposits [1]. Some recurrently observed features exhibit development, likely indicative of thinning of the dust mantle over time. The honeycomb features span various geomorphological regions of the nucleus surface, and may suggest a wide erosion process within the dust mantle as the comet was approaching perihelion [2]. The global distribution of these features shows certain correlation with latitude as well as morphology. We analyze a few carefully selected datasets with comparable resolutions and viewing geometries to verify and quantify the observed erosion, with effects of varying illumination conditions in mind. We will explore the possible underlying mechanisms in triggering the observed changes, such as local dynamical environment and energy input of insolation, during the period of interest. In particular, we will study the relationship between global distribution of the honeycomb features and the seasonality in cometary activities, by investigating the pattern of accumulated insolation and the modeled erosion in time.
Reference
[1] Shi, X., Hu, X., Sierks, H., et al. (2015), Sunset jets observed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sustained by subsurface thermal lag, A&A, accepted
[2] El-Maarry, M. R., Thomas, N., Giacomini, L., et al. (2015), Regional surface morphology of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta/OSIRIS images, A&A, vol. 583, A26 |
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