A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko observation campaign in support of the Rosetta mission
Authors: C. Snodgrass, M. F. A'Hearn, F. Aceituno, V. Afanasiev, S. Bagnulo, J. Bauer, G. Bergond, S. Besse, N. Biver, D. Bodewits, H. Boehnhardt, B. P. Bonev, G. Borisov, B. Carry, V. Casanova, A. Cochran, B. C. Conn, B. Davidsson, J. K. Davies, J. de León, E. de Mooij, M. de Val-Borro, M. Delacruz, M. A. DiSanti, J. E. Drew, R. Duffard, N. J. T. Edberg, S. Faggi, L. Feaga, A. Fitzsimmons, H. Fujiwara, E. L. Gibb, M. Gillon, S. F. Green, A. Guijarro, A. Guilbert-Lepoutre, P. J. Gutiérrez, E. Hadamcik, O. Hainaut, S. Haque, R. Hedrosa, D. Hines, U. Hopp, F. Hoyo, D. Hutsemékers, M. Hyland, O. Ivanova, E. Jehin, G. H. Jones, J. V. Keane, M. S. P. Kelley, N. Kiselev, J. Kleyna, M. Kluge, M. M. Knight, R. Kokotanekova, D. Koschny, E. A. Kramer, J. J. López-Moreno, P. Lacerda, L. M. Lara, J. Lasue, H. J. Lehto, A. C. Levasseur-Regourd, J. Licandro, Z. Y. Lin, T. Lister, S. C. Lowry, A. Mainzer, J. Manfroid, J. Marchant, A. J. McKay, A. McNeill, K. J. Meech, M. Micheli, I. Mohammed, M. Monguió, F. Moreno, O. Muñoz, M. J. Mumma, P. Nikolov, C. Opitom, J. L. Ortiz, L. Paganini, M. Pajuelo, F. J. Pozuelos, S. Protopapa, T. Pursimo, B. Rajkumar, Y. Ramanjooloo, E. Ramos, C. Ries, A. Riffeser, V. Rosenbush, P. Rousselot, E. L. Ryan, P. Santos-Sanz, D. G. Schleicher, M. Schmidt, R. Schulz, A. K. Sen, A. Somero, A. Sota, A. Stinson, J. M. Sunshine, A. Thompson, G. P. Tozzi, C. Tubiana, G. L. Villanueva, X. Wang, D. H. Wooden, M. Yagi, B. Yang, B. Zaprudin, T. J. Zegmott
Publisher: ROYAL SOC
Publication year: 2017
Journal: Philosophical Transactions A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Article number: 20160249
Volume: 375
Issue: 2097
Number of pages: 22
ISSN: 1364-503X
eISSN: 1471-2962
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0249
We present a summary of the campaign of remote observations
that supported the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. Telescopes
across the globe (and in space) followed comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
from before Rosetta's arrival until nearly the end of the mission in
September 2016. These provided essential data for mission planning,
large-scale context information for the coma and tails beyond the
spacecraft and a way to directly compare 67P with other comets. The
observations revealed 67P to be a relatively ‘well-behaved’ comet,
typical of Jupiter family comets and with activity patterns that repeat
from orbit to orbit. Comparison between this large collection of
telescopic observations and the in situ results from Rosetta
will allow us to better understand comet coma chemistry and structure.
This work is just beginning as the mission ends—in this paper, we
present a summary of the ground-based observations and early results,
and point to many questions that will be addressed in future studies.
This article is part of the themed issue ‘Cometary science after Rosetta’.
