[Research Article] Properties of the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko interior revealed by CONSERT radar

The Philae lander provides a unique opportunity to investigate the internal structure of a comet nucleus, providing information about its formation and evolution in the early solar system. We present Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission (CONSERT) measurements of the interior of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. From the propagation time and form of the signals, the upper part of the “head” of 67P is fairly homogeneous on a spatial scale of tens of meters. CONSERT also reduced the size of the uncertainty of Philae’s final landing site down to approximately 21 by 34 square meters. The average permittivity is about 1.27, suggesting that this region has a volumetric dust/ice ratio of 0.4 to 2.6 and a porosity of 75 to 85%. The dust component may be comparable to that of carbonaceous chondrites. Authors: Wlodek Kofman, Alain Herique, Yves Barbin, Jean-Pierre Barriot, Valérie Ciarletti, Stephen Clifford, Peter Edenhofer, Charles Elachi, Christelle Eyraud, Jean-Pierre Goutail, Essam Heggy, Laurent Jorda, Jérémie Lasue, Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, Erling Nielsen, Pierre Pasquero, Frank Preusker, Pascal Puget, Dirk Plettemeier, Yves Rogez, Holger Sierks, Christoph Statz, Hakan Svedhem, Iwan Williams, Sonia Zine, Jakob Van Zyl

from Science: Current Issue
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6247/aab0639.abstract?rss=1

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