Thermal Model of Comet Nuclei: Implications for Rosetta

Cristina De Sanctis, Maria Teresa Capria, Diego Turrini, Angioletta Coradini Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Blvd., Houston TX 77058 USA (lasue@lpi.usra.edu) Los Alamos National Laboratory ISR-1, Mail Stop D-466, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, INAF, Rome, Italy, Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, INAF, Rome, Italy We investigate the effect of shape, orbital history, obliquity and dust covering on the thermal properties and the activity of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Implications for the Rosetta mission timeline are derived.