Temporal morphological changes in the Imhotep region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Abstract

We report on the first major temporal morphological changes observed on the surface of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in the smooth terrains of the Imhotep region. We use images of the OSIRIS cameras onboard Rosetta to follow the temporal changes from 24 May 2015 to 11 July 2015. The morphological changes observed on the surface are visible in the form of roundish features, which are growing in size from a given location in a preferential direction, at a rate of 5.6 - 8.1$\times$10$^{-5}$ m s$^{-1}$ during the observational period. The location where changes started and the contours of the expanding features are bluer than the surroundings, suggesting the presence of ices (H$_2$O and/or CO$_2$) exposed on the surface. However, sublimation of ices alone is not sufficient to explain the observed expanding features. No significant variations in the dust activity pattern are observed during the period of changes.