Interpretation of the phase functions measured by the OSIRIS instrument for Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Abstract

We show that the scattering phase functions of the coma and the nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured by the Rosetta/OSIRIS instrument can be reproduced by a particle model involving clustered densely packed submicrometer-sized grains composed of organic material and larger micrometer-sized silicate grains. The simulated and measured coma phase functions suggest that near the nucleus scattering is dominated by large particles, and the size distribution of dust particles varies with time and/or local coma environment. Further, we show that the measured nucleus phase function is consistent with the coma phase function by modelling a nucleus-sized object consisting of the same particles that explain the coma phase functions.