Dust-to-Gas and Refractory-to-Ice Mass Ratios of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta Observations

Choukroun, Mathieu; Altwegg, Kathrin; Kuehrt, Ekkehard; Biver, Nicolas; Bockelee-Morvan, Dominique; Drazkowska, Joanna; Herique, Alain; Hilchenbach, Martin; Marschale, Raphael; Paetzold, Martin; Taylor, Matthew G. G. T. and Thomas, Nicolas (2020): Dust-to-Gas and Refractory-to-Ice Mass Ratios of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta Observations. In: Space Science Reviews, Vol. 216, No. 3, 44

Abstract

This chapter reviews the estimates of the dust-to-gas and refractory-to-ice mass ratios derived from Rosetta measurements in the lost materials and the nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, respectively. First, the measurements by Rosetta instruments are described, as well as relevant characteristics of 67P. The complex picture of the activity of 67P, with its extreme North-South seasonal asymmetry, is presented. Individual estimates of the dust-to-gas and refractory-to-ice mass ratios are then presented and compared, showing wide ranges of plausible values. Rosetta's wealth of information suggests that estimates of the dust-to-gas mass ratio made in cometary comae at a single point in time may not be fully representative of the refractory-to-ice mass ratio within the cometary nuclei being observed.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Physics
• Subjects: 500 Science > 530 Physics
• ISSN: 0038-6308
• Language: English