Mineralogical Implications of CONSERT Permittivity Characterization of 67P
Résumé
On 12 November 2014, after the descent and rebounds of the lander Philae, COmet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radio Transmission (CONSERT) restarted operating at 18h56 UTC and continued until 04h06 UTC, providing the first investigation of the internal structure of the nucleus of a comet. The analysis of the signal that propagated throughout the upper part of “head” of 67P allows us to estimate an average permittivity of approximately 1.27 (Kofman et al., 2015). This average permittivity induces constraints on the permittivity of the dust components versus volume fraction of dust and ices. We analyze constraints on dust permittivity using mixing formulas and ice composition models. Additional comparisons to laboratory measurements will allow us to discuss the implication on composition and mineralogy of the 67P dust particules.