Recent polarimetric observations of comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Anny Chantal Levasseur-Regourd (1) , Edith Hadamcik (1) , Asoke K. Sen (2) , Ranjan Gupta (3) , Jérémie Lasue (4, 5)

1 PLANETO - LATMOS
2 Assam University
3 IUCAA - Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics [Pune]
4 LPI - Lunar and Planetary Institute [Houston]
5 LANL - Los Alamos National Laboratory

Remote observations of solar light scattered by dust in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko coma are of major importance to assess the properties of the dust and thus to prepare the rendezvous of the Rosetta spacecraft with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We present polarimetric data obtained from India in December 2008 and France in March 2009. Compared with previous observations of this comet and of other Jupiter family comets, they confirm that it is dust-poor, although it may exhibit outbursts leading to the ejection of dust particles from its subsurface, especially after its perihelion passage.

Mots clés: Polarimetry; Comets; 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Anny Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, Edith Hadamcik, Asoke K. Sen, Ranjan Gupta, Jérémie Lasue. Recent polarimetric observations of comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium S263 (Icy Bodies of the Solar System), Aug 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp.259-262, ⟨10.1017/S1743921310001882⟩. ⟨hal-00491255⟩