# VIRTIS-H observations of comet 67P's dust coma: spectral properties and color temperature variability with phase and elevation

## TL;DR

This study analyzes spectroscopic data of comet 67P's dust coma to understand its spectral properties and temperature variability, revealing insights into particle composition, roughness, and thermal behavior across different observational conditions.

## Contribution

It provides new detailed measurements of dust spectral properties and temperature variations with phase angle and altitude, enhancing understanding of cometary dust characteristics.

## Key findings

- Bolometric albedo increases with altitude from 0.05 to 0.14.
- Significant phase reddening observed at 50-120° phase angles.
- Color temperature varies from 260 to 320 K, following a r_h^0.6 dependence.

## Abstract

We analyze 2-5 micrometre spectroscopic observations of the dust coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko obtained with the VIRTIS-H instrument onboard Rosetta from 3 June to 29 October 2015 at heliocentric distances r_h = 1.24-1.55 AU. The 2-2.5 micrometre color, bolometric albedo, and color temperature are measured using spectral fitting. Data obtained at alpha = 90{\deg} solar phase angle show an increase of the bolometric albedo (0.05 to 0.14) with increasing altitude (0.5 to 8 km), accompanied by a possible marginal decrease of the color and color temperature. Possible explanations include the presence in the inner coma of dark particles on ballistic trajectories, and radial changes in particle composition. In the phase angle range 50-120{\deg}, phase reddening is significant (0.031 %/100 nm/{\deg}), for a mean color of 2 %/100 nm at alpha = 90{\deg}, that can be related to the roughness of the dust particles. Moreover, a decrease of the color temperature with decreasing phase angle is also observed at a rate of ~ 0.3 K/{\deg}, consistent with the presence of large porous particles, with low thermal inertia, and showing a significant day-to-night temperature contrast. Comparing data acquired at fixed phase angle (alpha = 90{\deg}), a 20% increase of the bolometric albedo is observed near perihelion. Heliocentric variations of the dust color are not significant in the analyzed time period. Measured color temperatures are varying from 260 to 320 K, and follow a r^0.6 variation in the r_h = 1.24-1.5 AU range, close to the expected r_h^0.5 value.