Related papers: Evolution of pits at the surface of 67P/Churyumov-…
Large and deep depressions, also known as pits, are observed at the surface of all Jupiter Family Comets (JFCs) imaged by spacecraft missions. They offer the opportunity to glimpse into sub-surface characteristics of comet nuclei, and study…
We investigate the thermal evolution of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's subsurface in the Seth_01 region, where active pits have been observed by the ESA/Rosetta mission. Our simulations show that clathrate destabilization and amorphous…
Between 2014 December 31 and 2015 March 17, the OSIRIS cameras on Rosetta documented the growth of a 140m wide and 0.5m deep depression in the Hapi region on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This shallow pit is one of several that later…
The Rosetta mission provided us with detailed data of the surface of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.In order to better understand the physical processes associated with the comet activity and the surface evolution of its…
Small bodies in our Solar System are considered remnants of their early formation. Studying their physical and dynamic properties can provide insights into their evolution, stability, and origin. ESA's Rosetta mission successfully landed…
We study the link between gravitational slopes and the surface morphology on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and provide constraints on the mechanical properties of the cometary material. We computed the gravitational slopes…
The dynamics of a rigid cometary nucleus is described by the evolutions of its center-of-mass and of its rotation state. Solar irradiation that reaches the surface of a cometary nucleus causes the sublimation of volatiles that form the coma…
We report on the detection of three icy cavities on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. They were identified on high-resolution anaglyphs built from images acquired by the OSIRIS instrument aboard the Rosetta spacecraft on 2016…
One of the main aims of the ESA Rosetta mission is to study the origin of the solar system by exploring comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at close range. In this paper we discuss the origin and evolution of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in…
We present a statistical analysis of the distribution of large scale topographic features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We observe that the cumulative cliff height distribution across the surface follows a power law with a slope equal…
There is an active debate about whether the properties of comets as observed today are primordial or, alternatively, if they are a result of collisional evolution or other processes. We investigate the effects of collisions on a comet with…
Water ice-rich patches have been detected on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the VIRTIS hyperspectral imager on-board the Rosetta spacecraft, since the orbital insertion in late August 2014. Among those, three icy patches…
A 3-D numerical model of comet nuclei is presented. An implicit numerical scheme was developed for the thermal evolution of a spherical nucleus composed of a mixture of ice and dust. The model was tested against analytical solutions,…
We report on the first major temporal morphological changes observed on the surface of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in the smooth terrains of the Imhotep region. We use images of the OSIRIS cameras onboard Rosetta to…
(Context) The change of the rotation period and the orientation of the rotation axis of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) is deducible from images taken by the scientific imaging instruments on-board the Rosetta mission with high…
Rosetta observations of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) reveal that most changes occur in the fallback-generated smooth terrains, vast deposits of granular material blanketing the comet's northern hemisphere. These changes express…
We analysed layering-related linear features on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) to determine the internal configuration of the layerings within the nucleus. We used high-resolution images from the OSIRIS Narrow Angle…
The so-called "early activity" of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has been observed to originate mostly in parts of the concave region or "neck" between its two lobes. Since activity is driven by the sublimation of volatiles, this is a…
We simulate the stresses induced by temperature changes in a putative hard layer near the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko with a thermo-viscoelastic model. Such a layer could be formed by the recondensation or sintering of water…
The origin of the particular shape of a small body like comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) is a topic of active research. How and when it acquired its peculiar characteristics has distinct implications on the origin of the solar…