Surface evolution of the Anhur region on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from high-resolution OSIRIS images

Fornasier, S. and Feller, C. and Hasselmann, P. H. and Barucci, M. A. and Sunshine, J. and Tóth, Imre (2019) Surface evolution of the Anhur region on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from high-resolution OSIRIS images. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 630. ISSN 0004-6361

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Abstract

Context. The southern hemisphere of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) became observable by the Rosetta mission in March 2015, a fe months before cometary southern vernal equinox. The Anhur region in th southern part of the comet's larger lobe was found to be highly eroded resolution images of the Anhur region pre- and post-perihelion acquire by the OSIRIS imaging system on board the Rosetta mission. The Narro Angle Camera is particularly useful for studying the evolution in Anhu in terms of morphological changes and color variations. Methods Radiance factor images processed by the OSIRIS pipeline wer coregistered, reprojected onto the 3D shape model of the comet, an corrected for the illumination conditions. Results: We find number of morphological changes in the Anhur region that are related t formation of new scarps; removal of dust coatings; localized resurfacin in some areas, including boulders displacements; and vanishin structures, which implies localized mass loss that we estimate to b higher than 50 million kg. The strongest changes took place in an nearby the Anhur canyon-like structure, where significant dust cover wa removed, an entire structure vanished, and many boulders wer rearranged. All such changes are potentially associated with one of th most intense outbursts registered by Rosetta during its observations which occurred one day before perihelion passage. Moreover, in the nich at the foot of a new observed scarp, we also see evidence of water ic exposure that persisted for at least six months. The abundance of wate ice, evaluated from a linear mixing model, is relatively high (>20%) Our results confirm that the Anhur region is volatile-rich and probabl is the area on 67P with the most pristine exposures near perihelion. Th movies associated to Figs. 2, 7, 8, and 10 are available at http://https://www. anda.org

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