Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.3301g&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #33.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.544
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present optical and infrared (24 micron) images of the dust trail of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko near aphelion, obtained with the Wide Field Imager at the MPG/ESO 2.2m telescope in La Silla in 2004 and with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Based on these images, we constrain the size distribution and material properties of mm-sized dust grains emitted from the comet. These particles remain close to the comet's orbit because of weak radiation pressure and low emission speeds, thereby forming the comet's dust trail. We evaluate the size distribution of the trail particles by fitting simulated images to the measured intensities. As far as possible, the parameters of the underlying model are derived from the observed emission history of Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The size distribution is a crucial parameter for estimating the number density of large particles in the neighbourhood of the comet nucleus and for the safety of ESA's Rosetta spacecraft which will pass through the trail region on its approach to Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2013.
This research is supported by NASA and the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Agarwal Jessica
Boehnhardt Hermann
Gruen Eberhard
Lien David J.
Mueller Marcus
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