Long-term monitoring of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s jets with OSIRIS onboard Rosetta
Abstract
We used the OSIRIS camera system onboard the Rosetta spacecraft to monitor jet activity of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. With a monthly cadence, we covered an epoch from December 2014 to October 2015, thereby including the first equinox and the perihelion passage. Jet features were measured in individual images, which were used to perform a statistical inversion. The study provides maps for the locations of likeliest sources of jet activity on the comet’s surface as a function of time. The sources follow the sub-solar latitude, show clustering and a broadening of the activity band with time in the Northern hemisphere. On the Southern hemisphere they are not clustered but show a broader spread over all longitudes which is either related to the north-south dichotomy of the comet’s topography or due to a higher insolation during southern summer.
Origin : Publisher files allowed on an open archive
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