Highlights of early VIRTIS/ROSETTA observations: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko seen from orbit

• Main Authors: Erard, Stéphane, Capaccioni, Fabrizio, Filacchione, Gianrico, Arnold, Gabriele, Bockelée-Morvan, Dominique, Capria, Maria Teresa, de Sanctis, Maria Cristina, Leyrat, Cédric, Tosi, Federico, Drossart, Pierre, Ciarniello, Mauro, Raponi, Andrea, Quirico, Éric, Schmitt, Bernard
• Other Authors: Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Pôle Planétologie du LESIA, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), INAF / IAPS, DLR, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP (UMR_7154)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; polar night
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03733694

International audience VIRTIS is the imaging spectrometer of the Rosetta mission, devoted to remote sensing studies of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (1). The instrument is made of a mapping channel covering the 0.3-5 mum range at moderate spectral resolution (VIRTIS-M), and of a cross-dispersion spectrometer covering the 2-5um range with resolution ~3000 (VIRTIS-H). The most recent results will be presented at the meeting; early ones are discussed here.The nucleus is observed from a wide range of illumination conditions and spatial resolution (down to 2.5 m). Albedo, spectral parameters, and compositional maps have been derived for areas out of the polar night. The nucleus surface appears to be extremely homogeneous and dark. The inferred normal albedo is 0.060 ± 0.003 at 0.55 mum (2), with distinct spectral slopes in the VIS and IR regions (5-25 and 1.5-5 % kÅ-1 respectively). The main spectral feature is a ubiquitous absorption in the 2.9-3.6 mum range, consistent with non-volatile organic macromolecular materials (2,3). The most likely absorbents include carboxylic groups, alcoholic OH, and possibly NH4 ions. However, the low albedo and marked slope suggest a mixture with opaque minerals (e.g. sulfides) or Fe-Ni alloys in the refractory crust. Ice is so far marginally detected in areas just emerging from shadow (4).The surface temperature is measured on the dayside as a function of local time and heliocentric distance. A maximum of 220K has been derived, with fast variations controlled by low thermal inertia. This is consistent with a surface covered by a porous crust, mainly devoid of water ice (5,6).Water vapor and carbon dioxide have been observed in the coma and their variability with altitude, geographic location and heliocentric distance has been studied. CO2/H2O ratio averages to 3-7%, but both species display different distributions. This suggests either different source regions, or seasonal variability (7).1- Coradini et al, SSR, 20072- Capaccioni et al., Science, 20153- Quirico et al, LPSC ...