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Studies of the ice on Rosetta’s comet

21 November 2016

Two online papers in the November 17th 2016 issue of the journal Science, to which have contributed two Paris Observatory scientist, furnish new information on the composition of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, as the latter approached the maximum of its activity last year.

First study: water ice

The first work, carried out by S. Fornasier, astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and lecturer at the University, highlights, thanks to the data furnished by the imaging system OSIRIS, seasonal and even daily colour variations of the nucleus.

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© S. Fornasier et al., Science 10.1126/science.aag2671 (2016)

Second study: carbon ice

Thanks to the data furnished by the spectro-imager VIRTIS, a second piece of research to which have contributed scientists from the Paris Observatory highlights the first ever dection of CO2 ice on the surface of a cometary nucleus.

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