Temporal morphological changes in the Imhotep region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Groussin, O. and Sierks, H. and Barbieri, C. and Lamy, P. and Rodrigo, R. and Koschny, D. and Rickman, H. and Keller, H.U. and A’Hearn, M.F. and Auger, A.-T. and Barucci, M.A. and Bertaux, J.-L. and Bertini, I. and Besse, S. and Cremonese, G. and Da Deppo, V. and Davidsson, B. and Debei, S. and De Cecco, M. and El-Maarry, Mohamed Ramy and Fornasier, S. and Fulle, M. and Gutiérrez, P.J. and Güttler, C. and Hviid, S. and Ip, W.-H and Jorda, L. and Knollenberg, J. and Kovacs, G. and Kramm, J.R. and Kührt, E. and Küppers, M. and Lara, L.M. and Lazzarin, M. and Lopez Moreno, J.J. and Lowry, S. and Marchi, S. and Marzari, F. and Massironi, M. and Mottola, S. and Naletto, G. and Oklay, N. and Pajola, M. and Pommerol, A. and Thomas, N. and Toth, I. and Tubiana, C. and Vincent, J.-B. (2015) Temporal morphological changes in the Imhotep region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Astronomy & Astrophysics 583 , A36. ISSN 0004-6361.
Abstract
Aims. 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. Methods. We used images of the OSIRIS cameras onboard Rosetta to follow the temporal changes from 24 May 2015 to 11 July 2015. Results. The morphological changes observed on the surface are visible in the form of roundish features that are growing in size from a given location in a preferential direction at a rate of 5.6–8.1 × 10-5 m s-1 during the observational period. The location where the changes started and the contours of the expanding features are bluer than the surroundings, which suggests that ices (H2O and/or CO2) are exposed on the surface. However, sublimation of ices alone is not sufficient to explain the observed expanding features. No significant variations in the dust activity pattern are observed during the period of changes.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko / comets: general / methods: data analysis |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Nov 2018 15:50 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:46 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/25031 |
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