Philae images paint comets in new light
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THE European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe, which sent the Philae lander onto a comet’s surface in November, has revealed unexpected details about the celestials balls of ice, dust and rocky particles.
In eight papers published in the journal Science yesterday, researchers describe what they have learned about Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko since the 100-kilogram Philae landed on it on November 12 after a 10-year trek piggybacking on Rosetta.
High-definition images taken by the spacecraft show how the nucleus consists of two lobes, connected by a neck region, which some have described as having a “rubber-duck” shape.
The images have been combined to form a 3D model of the comet and its topography.
Its shape might play a role in an unexpected seasonal variation in the comet’s atmosphere of gas, which scientists have just discovered. Comets are known to heat up and display visible atmospheres and tails as they approach the Sun.
“From a telescope, images of a comet’s atmosphere suggest that the coma is uniform and does not vary over short periods of hours or days. That’s what we were expecting as we approached the comet,” said Stephen Fuselier, lead co-investigator for the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer instrument.
“It was a surprise when we saw time variations from 200 kilometers away. More surprising was that the composition of the coma varied by large amounts. We’re taught that comets are made mostly of water ice. For this comet, the coma sometimes contains more carbon dioxide than water vapor.”
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