Shedding Light on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko - New Shape and Topography Results

Robert W Gaskell1, Laurent Jorda2, Anne-Thérèse Auger2, Olivier S Barnouin3, Philippe L Lamy2, Eric E Palmer4, Coralie Jackman5, Claire Capanna2, Stubbe Faurschou Hviid6, Pedro Gutiérrez7 and OSIRIS, (1)Planetary Science Institute Tucson, Tucson, AZ, United States, (2)Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France, (3)JHU Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, United States, (4)Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, United States, (5)KinetX, Simi Valley, CA, United States, (6)German Aerospace Center DLR Berlin, Berlin, Germany, (7)IAA-CSIC, Granada, Spain

Contact First Author: Robert W Gaskell; rgaskell@psi.edu

Previously Published Material: November 2014 DPS meeting.  Shape and topography from early mapping phases.

Abstract ID#: 35777

 

English Abstract:
The 2015 Joint Assembly coincides with the autumnal equinox of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Since August 2014, we have been mapping the surface of the comet, producing three dimensional topographic maps at one meter spatial resolution. These maps have been ingested into APL's Small Body Mapping Tool, enabling us to study the geology of 67P/CG in three dimensions and in its proper gravitational context. Until now, a significant portion of the comet has been in permanent shadow, but in the weeks before the meeting most of its surface will be revealed to ROSETTA's OSIRIS cameras. We shall present an almost complete topographic map of the surface of the comet, which will allow an accurate measurement of the nucleus density.
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