Tensile Strength of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Nucleus Material from Overhangs

TL;DR

This study measures the tensile strength of comet 67P's surface material by analyzing overhangs, finding strengths around one to five pascals, supporting theories of a fragile, primordial rubble pile structure.

Contribution

First direct measurement of tensile strength of 67P's nucleus material using overhang analysis, confirming extremely low strength values around a few pascals.

Findings

Tensile strength is approximately 1-5 Pa.

No significant variation in strength with overhang size or location.

Supports the idea of a fragile, rubble-pile comet nucleus.

Abstract

We directly measure twenty overhanging cliffs on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko extracted from the latest shape model and estimate the minimum tensile strengths needed to support them against collapse under the comet's gravity. We find extremely low strengths of around one Pa or less (one to five Pa, when scaled to a metre length). The presence of eroded material at the base of most overhangs, as well as the observed collapse of two features and implied previous collapse of another, suggests that they are prone to failure and that true material strengths are close to these lower limits (although we only consider static stresses and not dynamic stress from, for example, cometary activity). Thus, a tensile strength of a few pascals is a good approximation for the tensile strength of 67P's nucleus material, which is in agreement with previous work. We find no particular trends in overhang properties with size, over the $\sim10-100$ m range studied here, or location on the nucleus. There are no obvious differences, in terms of strength, height or evidence of collapse, between the populations of overhangs on the two cometary lobes, suggesting that 67P is relatively homogenous in terms of tensile strength. Low material strengths are supportive of cometary formation as a primordial rubble pile or by collisional fragmentation of a small (tens of km) body.