Peaks, notches, and lowlands of comet (67P) Churyumov-Gerasimenko

We study here the local minima, maxima, and saddle points of the augmented potential on the surface of a small celestial body with application to comet (67P) Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The isolines of the augmented potential on this surface are determined, in particular, those corresponding to the saddle points. The results are applied to reveal the correlation between the structure of the areas of possible motion on the comet surface and geographic objects on this surface previously defined in the course of the Rosetta mission.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigate the local minima, maxima, and saddle points of the augmented potential applied to comet (67P) Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface. We specifically determine the isolines of the augmented potential on this surface, including those corresponding to the saddle points. The findings are utilized to uncover the relationship between the structure of potential motion areas on the comet surface and the previously defined geographic objects during the Rosetta mission.