The organic-rich surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by VIRTIS/Rosetta-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

The organic-rich surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by VIRTIS/Rosetta

Published:2015-01-23 Issue:6220 Volume:347 Page:
ISSN:0036-8075
Container-title:Science
language:en
Short-container-title:Science

Author:

Capaccioni F.¹,Coradini A.¹,Filacchione G.¹,Erard S.²,Arnold G.³,Drossart P.²,De Sanctis M. C.¹,Bockelee-Morvan D.²,Capria M. T.¹,Tosi F.¹,Leyrat C.²,Schmitt B.⁴,Quirico E.⁴,Cerroni P.¹,Mennella V.⁵,Raponi A.¹,Ciarniello M.¹,McCord T.⁶,Moroz L.³,Palomba E.¹,Ammannito E.⁷,Barucci M. A.²,Bellucci G.¹,Benkhoff J.⁸,Bibring J. P.⁹,Blanco A.¹⁰,Blecka M.¹¹,Carlson R.¹²,Carsenty U.³,Colangeli L.⁸,Combes M.²,Combi M.¹³,Crovisier J.²,Encrenaz T.²,Federico C.¹⁴,Fink U.¹⁵,Fonti S.¹⁰,Ip W. H.¹⁶,Irwin P.¹⁷,Jaumann R.³¹⁸,Kuehrt E.³,Langevin Y.⁹,Magni G.¹,Mottola S.³,Orofino V.¹⁰,Palumbo P.¹⁹,Piccioni G.¹,Schade U.²⁰,Taylor F.¹⁷,Tiphene D.²,Tozzi G. P.²¹,Beck P.⁴,Biver N.²,Bonal L.⁴,Combe J.-Ph.⁶,Despan D.²,Flamini E.²²,Fornasier S.²,Frigeri A.¹,Grassi D.¹,Gudipati M.¹²²³,Longobardo A.¹,Markus K.³,Merlin F.²,Orosei R.²⁴,Rinaldi G.¹,Stephan K.³,Cartacci M.¹,Cicchetti A.¹,Giuppi S.¹,Hello Y.²,Henry F.²,Jacquinod S.²,Noschese R.¹,Peter G.²⁵,Politi R.¹,Reess J. M.²,Semery A.²

Affiliation:

1. Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Rome, Italy.

2. Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris/CNRS/Université Pierre et Marie Curie[acute accent over last letter in "Université"]/Université Paris-Diderot, Meudon, France.

3. Institute for Planetary Research, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Berlin, Germany.

4. Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, Grenoble, France.

5. Osservatorio di Capodimonte, INAF, Napoli, Italy.

6. Bear Fight Institute, Winthrop, WA 98862, USA.

7. University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

8. European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, Netherlands.

9. Institut d’Astrophysique Spatial, CNRS, Orsay, France.

10. Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica “Ennio De Giorgi,” Università del Salento, Italy.

11. Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.

12. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.

13. Space Physics Research Laboratory, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

14. Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.

15. Lunar Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.

16. National Central University, Taipei, Taiwan.

17. Departement of Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.

18. Free University of Berlin, Institute of Geosciences, Malteserstraße 74-100, Building Haus A, 12249 Berlin, Germany.

19. Università “Parthenope,” Napoli, Italy.

20. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin, Germany.

21. Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, INAF, Firenze, Italy.

22. Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome, Italy.

23. Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

24. Istituto di Radioastronomia, INAF, Bologna, Italy.

25. Institut für Optische Sensorsysteme, DLR, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

The VIRTIS (Visible, Infrared and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) instrument on board the Rosetta spacecraft has provided evidence of carbon-bearing compounds on the nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The very low reflectance of the nucleus (normal albedo of 0.060 ± 0.003 at 0.55 micrometers), the spectral slopes in visible and infrared ranges (5 to 25 and 1.5 to 5% kÅ −1 ), and the broad absorption feature in the 2.9-to-3.6–micrometer range present across the entire illuminated surface are compatible with opaque minerals associated with nonvolatile organic macromolecular materials: a complex mixture of various types of carbon-hydrogen and/or oxygen-hydrogen chemical groups, with little contribution of nitrogen-hydrogen groups. In active areas, the changes in spectral slope and absorption feature width may suggest small amounts of water-ice. However, no ice-rich patches are observed, indicating a generally dehydrated nature for the surface currently illuminated by the Sun.

Funder

NASA

Science and Technology Facilities Council

Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales

DLR

Italian Space Agency

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference31 articles.

1. The Chemical Composition of Comets—Emerging Taxonomies and Natal Heritage