Evolution of the subsurface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s Abydos Site

Brugger, B.; Mousis, O.; Morse, A.; Marboeuf, U.; Jorda, L.; Andrews, D.; Barber, S.; Guilbert-Lepoutre, A.; Lamy, P.; Luspay-Kuti, A.; Mandt, K.; Morgan, G.; Sheridan, S.; Vernazza, P. and Wright, I. P. (2015). Evolution of the subsurface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s Abydos Site. In: Semaine de l'astrophysique française 2015 (Boissier, S.; Buat, V.; Cambrésy, L.; Martins, F. and Petit, P. eds.), 2-5 Jun 2015, Toulouse.

URL: http://sf2a.eu/semaine-sf2a/2015/posterpdfs/119_47...

Abstract

On November 12, 2014, Rosetta's descent module Philae landed on the Abydos site of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P). Here we investigate the structure of the subsurface of the Abydos site by making use of a cometary nucleus model [1] employing an updated set of thermodynamic parameters relevant for 67P and an appropriated parameterization of the illumination of the Abydos site. The model considers an initially homogeneous sphere composed of a predefined porous mixture of crystalline ices (H2O, CO and CO2) and dust in specified proportions, and uses parameters derived from recent 67P studies [2], [3] and [4]. The comparison of the production rates derived from our model with those of the main molecules measured by Ptolemy (the mass spectrometer performing the analysis of several samples collected from the surface and atmosphere of the comet) should allow us to place important constraints on the structure (layering and composition) of the subsurface of Philae’s landing site.

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