The changing temperature of the nucleus of comet 67P induced by morphological and seasonal effects

International audienceK nowledge of the surface temperature distribution of a comet's nucleus proves to be of fundamental importance for a number of reasons: the evaluation of the thermophysical properties (thermal inertia and roughness, at several spatial scales), the characterization of the thermal behaviour of peculiar surface units (for example, local ice exposures, or inherently cold material units not to be confused with shaded areas), and for the understanding of the physical processes affecting the surface and the shallow subsur-face layers (for example, sublimation of volatile compounds). The distribution of surface temperatures of a cometary nucleus, closely measured by a spacecraft, can be compared with theoretical models meant to predict the thermophysical properties of the nucleus at various depths and with previous thermal observations carried out by both Earth-based and space-based telescopes, with the goal of validating and/or improving those models 1. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of the surface temperatures, primarily driven by insolation, is critical in triggering the activity of a comet, allowing the migration of volatile compounds from the interior of the nucleus and the production of gas and dust observable with different techniques 2. In the past, thermal surveys of minor bodies were carried out using ground-based and space-based facilities. However, due to the limited spatial resolution of those observations, in most cases the derived thermal properties were only global averages, and the determined temperatures were highly model dependent. Before Rosetta, direct measurements of cometary nuclei surface temperatures were obtained during short periods for a handful of comets, namely 1P/ Halley 3 , 19P/Borrelly 4 , 9P/Tempel 1 1 and 103P/Hartley 2 5 , with a maximum spatial resolution of approximately 30 m per pixel. Here we study the surface temperature distribution of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as derived by the Visible InfraRed and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, Mapping channel (VIRTIS-M, hereafter VIRTIS) 6 in Rosetta's early global mapping phase after comet encounter. These data cover the pre-perihelion period from 1 August to 23 September 2014, when the heliocentric distance decreased from 3.62 to 3.31 au and the spacecraft was in the altitude range 61-13 km above the surface, resulting in a spatial resolution from approximately 15 to 3 m per pixel (most data showing a resolution of 13 to 15 m per pixel). In this period, the solar phase angle ranged from 17° to 93°, which Knowledge of the surface temperature distribution on a comet's nucleus and its temporal evolution at different timescales is key to constraining its thermophysical properties and understanding the physical processes that take place at and below the surface. Here we report on time-resolved maps of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko retrieved on the basis of infra-red data acquired by the Visible InfraRed and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) onboard the Rosetta orbiter in 2014, over a roughly two-month period in the pre-perihelion phase at heliocentric distances between 3.62 and 3.31 au from the Sun. We find that at a spatial resolution ≤15 m per pixel, the measured temperatures point out the major effect that self-heating, due to the complex shape of the nucleus, has on the diurnal temperature variation. The bilobate nucleus of comet 67P also induces daytime shadowing effects, which result in large thermal gradients. Over longer periods, VIRTIS-derived temperature values reveal seasonal changes driven by decreasing heliocentric distance combined with an increasing abundance of ice within the uppermost centimetre-thick layer, which implies the possibility of having a largely pristine nucleus interior already in the shallow subsurface