Are fractured cliffs the source of cometary dust jets? Insights from OSIRIS/Rosetta at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Vincent, J. B.; Oklay, N.; Pajola, M.; Hoefner, S.; Sierks, H.; Hu, X.; Barbieri, C.; Lamy, P. L.; Rodrigo, R.; Koschny, D.; Rickman, H.; Keller, H. U.; A'Hearn, M. F.; Barucci, M. A.; Bertaux, J. L.; Bertini, I.; Besse, S.; Bodewits, D.; Cremonese, G.; Da Deppo, V.; ... (2016). Are fractured cliffs the source of cometary dust jets? Insights from OSIRIS/Rosetta at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Astronomy and astrophysics, 587(A14), A14. EDP Sciences 10.1051/0004-6361/201527159

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Context. Dust jets (i.e., fuzzy collimated streams of cometary material arising from the nucleus) have been observed in situ on all comets since the Giotto mission flew by comet 1P/Halley in 1986, and yet their formation mechanism remains unknown. Several solutions have been proposed involving either specific properties of the active areas or the local topography to create and focus the gas and dust flows. While the nucleus morphology seems to be responsible for the larger features, high resolution imagery has shown that broad streams are composed of many smaller jets (a few meters wide) that connect directly to the nucleus surface. Aims. We monitored these jets at high resolution and over several months to understand what the physical processes are that drive their formation and how this affects the surface. Methods. Using many images of the same areas with different viewing angles, we performed a 3-dimensional reconstruction of collimated jets and linked them precisely to their sources on the nucleus. Results. We show here observational evidence that the northern hemisphere jets of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko arise from areas with sharp topographic changes and describe the physical processes involved. We propose a model in which active cliffs are the main source of jet-like features and therefore of the regions eroding the fastest on comets. We suggest that this is a common mechanism taking place on all comets.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Space Research and Planetary Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Elmaarry, Mohamed Ramy, Thomas, Nicolas

Subjects:

500 Science > 520 Astronomy
500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0004-6361

Publisher:

EDP Sciences

Language:

English

Submitter:

Katharina Weyeneth-Moser

Date Deposited:

22 Jun 2016 12:39

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:56

Publisher DOI:

10.1051/0004-6361/201527159

Web of Science ID:

000371589800025

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.81940

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/81940

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