Fission and reconfiguration of bilobate comets as revealed by 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Masatoshi Hirabayashi (), Daniel J. Scheeres (), Steven R. Chesley, Simone Marchi, Jay W. McMahon, Jordan Steckloff, Stefano Mottola, Shantanu P. Naidu and Timothy Bowling
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Masatoshi Hirabayashi: University of Colorado Boulder
Daniel J. Scheeres: University of Colorado Boulder
Steven R. Chesley: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Simone Marchi: Southwest Research Institute
Jay W. McMahon: University of Colorado Boulder
Jordan Steckloff: Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University
Stefano Mottola: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research
Shantanu P. Naidu: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Timothy Bowling: University of Chicago

Nature, 2016, vol. 534, issue 7607, 352-355

Abstract: A modelling study of the bilobate nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko reveals that it has spun much faster in the past, but that its chaotically changing spin rate has so far prevented it from splitting; eventually the two lobes will separate, but they will be unable to escape each other and will ultimately merge again—a situation that seems to be common among cometary nuclei.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/nature17670

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