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Evidence for the formation of comet 67p/churyumov-gerasimenko through gravitational collapse of a bound clump of pebbles

Blum, Jurgen ; Gundlach, Bastian ; Krause, Maya ; Fulle, Marco ; Johansen, Anders LU ; Agarwal, Jessica ; Von Borstel, Ingo ; Shi, Xian ; Hu, Xuanyu and Bentley, Mark S. , et al. (2017) In Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 469. p.755-773
Abstract

The processes that led to the formation of the planetary bodies in the Solar system are still not fully understood. Using the results obtained with the comprehensive suite of instruments onboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, we present evidence that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko likely formed through the gentle gravitational collapse of a bound clump of mm-sized dust aggregates ('pebbles'), intermixed with microscopic ice particles. This formation scenario leads to a cometary make-up that is simultaneously compatible with the global porosity, homogeneity, tensile strength, thermal inertia, vertical temperature profiles, sizes and porosities of emitted dust and the steep increase in water-vapour production rate with... (More)

The processes that led to the formation of the planetary bodies in the Solar system are still not fully understood. Using the results obtained with the comprehensive suite of instruments onboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, we present evidence that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko likely formed through the gentle gravitational collapse of a bound clump of mm-sized dust aggregates ('pebbles'), intermixed with microscopic ice particles. This formation scenario leads to a cometary make-up that is simultaneously compatible with the global porosity, homogeneity, tensile strength, thermal inertia, vertical temperature profiles, sizes and porosities of emitted dust and the steep increase in water-vapour production rate with decreasing heliocentric distance, measured by the instruments onboard the Rosetta spacecraft and the Philae lander. Our findings suggest that the pebbles observed to be abundant in protoplanetary discs around young stars provide the building material for comets and other minor bodies.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
67p/churyumov-gerasimenko - planets and satellites, Comets, Formation - protoplanetary discs, Individual
in
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
volume
469
pages
755 - 773
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85055142466
ISSN
0035-8711
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stx2741
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4604cbc3-f5d8-4dc6-9df5-0cf98fb017df
date added to LUP
2019-05-22 17:48:48
date last changed
2024-04-16 09:14:28
@article{4604cbc3-f5d8-4dc6-9df5-0cf98fb017df,
  abstract     = {{<p>The processes that led to the formation of the planetary bodies in the Solar system are still not fully understood. Using the results obtained with the comprehensive suite of instruments onboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, we present evidence that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko likely formed through the gentle gravitational collapse of a bound clump of mm-sized dust aggregates ('pebbles'), intermixed with microscopic ice particles. This formation scenario leads to a cometary make-up that is simultaneously compatible with the global porosity, homogeneity, tensile strength, thermal inertia, vertical temperature profiles, sizes and porosities of emitted dust and the steep increase in water-vapour production rate with decreasing heliocentric distance, measured by the instruments onboard the Rosetta spacecraft and the Philae lander. Our findings suggest that the pebbles observed to be abundant in protoplanetary discs around young stars provide the building material for comets and other minor bodies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Blum, Jurgen and Gundlach, Bastian and Krause, Maya and Fulle, Marco and Johansen, Anders and Agarwal, Jessica and Von Borstel, Ingo and Shi, Xian and Hu, Xuanyu and Bentley, Mark S. and Capaccioni, Fabrizio and Colangeli, Luigi and Corte, Vincenzo Della and Fougere, Nicolas and Green, Simon F. and Ivanovski, Stavro and Mannel, Thurid and Merouane, Sihane and Migliorini, Alessandra and Rotundi, Alessandra and Schmied, Roland and Snodgrass, Colin}},
  issn         = {{0035-8711}},
  keywords     = {{67p/churyumov-gerasimenko - planets and satellites; Comets; Formation - protoplanetary discs; Individual}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{755--773}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}},
  title        = {{Evidence for the formation of comet 67p/churyumov-gerasimenko through gravitational collapse of a bound clump of pebbles}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2741}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/mnras/stx2741}},
  volume       = {{469}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}