Freiburg 2008 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 5: Astrophysics - Poster Session
EP 5.6: Poster
Montag, 3. März 2008, 17:30–19:00, Vorraum KGI-Aula
The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer within the Rosetta mission: preparing the landing on a comet — •Jordi Girones Lopez1, Jose Fernandez Sanchez1, Daniel Rodionov1,2, Johannes Brückner3, Ralf Gellert4, and Göstar Klingelhöfer1 — 1Institut für anorganische und analytische Chemie, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität, Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz, Germany — 2Space Research Institute IKI, 117997 Moskau, Russland — 3Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany — 4Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Canada.
One of the main objectives of the Rosetta mission is to gain a better understanding of the origin and formation of comets. There exist different theories about the possible chemical composition of comets assumed to be the most primitive bodies of the solar system. The chemical composition of the surface of the target comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko will be determined by measurements of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), which is part of the payload of the Lander Philae. The APXS will irradiate the cometary surface with Curium-244 alpha sources exciting characteristic x-rays of the elements present. Using its high-resolution X-ray detector, most elements from Na to Ni (increasing atomic number) will be detected depending on their concentration. With its alpha detectors, elements like C and O and groups of elements with higher Z will be detected. Within the next few months, some internal parameters of the instrument will be optimized to improve the quality of the integrated X-ray spectra. These data will be used to explore the present state of the comet and derive its formation history.