Journal
ICARUS
Volume 222, Issue 2, Pages 550-558Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2012.05.034
Keywords
Comets; Comets, Nucleus; Geological processes; Geophysics
Categories
Funding
- NASA [NNM07AA99C]
- New Frontiers Program Office
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Data from the Extrasolar Planet Observation and Deep Impact Extended Investigation (EPOXI) mission show Comet 103P/Hartley 2 is a bi-lobed, elongated, nearly axially symmetric comet 2.33 km in length. Surface features are primarily small mounds <40 m across, irregularly-shaped smooth areas on the two lobes, and a smooth but variegated region forming a waist between the two lobes. Assuming parts of the comet body approach the shape of an equipotential surface, the mean density of Hartley 2 is modeled to be 200-400 kg m(-3). Such a mean density suggests mass loss per orbit of >1%. The shape may be the evolutionary product of insolation, sublimation, and temporary deposition of materials controlled by the object's complex rotation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available