Seminarium fizyki litosfery i planetologii

Comet 9P/Tempel 1 was imaged during two consecutive perihelion passages. I attempted to derive material properties of the nucleus beneath the selected scarp located at about 40o S from the observed recession rate. For this purpose I simulated recession of the model scarp due to sub-dust sublimation of ice. The calculated horizontal recession rate of the slope is up to 30 m per orbital period, while the observed scarp receded locally up to 50 m. This difference indicates, that the recession of the observed scarp is enhanced by rejection of ice grains, or even larger chunks of material due to fast outflow of vapour. This could explain also the observed high brightness of the scarp.