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Science 18 June 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5678, pp. 1769 - 1774
DOI: 10.1126/science.1098388
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Research Articles

Modeling the Nucleus and Jets of Comet 81P/Wild 2 Based on the Stardust Encounter Data

Zdenek Sekanina,1* Donald E. Brownlee,2 Thanasis E. Economou,3 Anthony J. Tuzzolino,3 Simon F. Green4

We interpret the nucleus properties and jet activity from the Stardust spacecraft imaging and the onboard dust monitoring system data. Triangulation of 20 jets shows that 2 emanate from the nucleus dark side and 16 emanate from sources that are on slopes where the Sun's elevation is greater than predicted from the fitted triaxial ellipsoid. Seven sources, including five in the Mayo depression, coincide with relatively bright surface spots. Fitting the imaged jets, the spikelike temporal distribution of dust impacts indicates that the spacecraft crossed thin, densely populated sheets of particulate ejecta extending from small sources on the rotating nucleus, consistent with an emission cone model.

1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
2 Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
3 Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, 933 East 56th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
4 Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zs{at}sek.jpl.nasa.gov

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Dust Measurements in the Coma of Comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Dust Flux Monitor Instrument.
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