Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 22, 2015 #1 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Getting to know Rosetta’s comet 22 January 2015 Rosetta is revealing its host comet as having a remarkable array of surface features and with many processes contributing to its activity, painting a complex picture of its evolution.In a special edition of the journal Science, initial results are presented from seven of Rosetta’s 11 science instruments based on measurements made during the approach to and soon after arriving at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in August 2014. The familiar shape of the dual-lobed comet has now had many of its vital statistics measured: the small lobe measures 2.6 × 2.3 × 1.8 km and the large lobe 4.1 × 3.3 × 1.8 km. The total volume of the comet is 21.4 km3 and the Radio Science Instrument has measured its mass to be 10 billion tonnes, yielding a density of 470 kg/m3. Read more... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 22, 2015 Author #2 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Rosetta data reveals more surprises about comet 67P Coma composition varies significantly over time San Antonio — January 22, 2015 — As the Rosetta spacecraft orbits comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, an international team of scientists have discovered that the comet’s atmosphere, or coma, is much less homogenous than expected and comet outgassing varies significantly over time, as reported in a paper published in the Jan. 23, 2015, issue of Science.“If we would have just seen a steady increase of gases as we closed in on the comet, there would be no question about heterogeneity of the nucleus,” says Dr. Myrtha Hässig, lead author of the paper titled “Time Variability and Heterogeneity in the Coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko” and a postdoctoral researcher at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “Instead we saw spikes in water readings, and a few hours later, a spike in carbon dioxide readings. This variation could be a temperature effect or a seasonal effect, or it could point to the possibility of comet migrations in the early solar system.” Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 22, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Rosetta Comet 'Pouring' More Water Into Space There has been a significant increase in the amount of water "pouring" out of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the comet on which the Rosetta mission's Philae lander touched down in November 2014.The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet was releasing the earthly equivalent of 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water into space every second at the end of August 2014. The observations were made by NASA's Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO), aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. Science results from the MIRO team were released today as part of a special Rosetta-related issue of the journal Science. Read more... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 23, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Along with the above articles a lot of new, high resolution, images of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko were released. I have posted some of them in the Asteroids and Comets section of UM Space Exploration gallery: Comet from 8 km Dune-like structures Icy alcove Hapi and Hathor Crack extension in Hapi Crack extension in Anuket Active pit in the Seth region Active pit in the Seth region: enhanced Comet goose bumps (a) Comet goose bumps ( Collapsing cliffs Exploring Imhotep Icy alcoves? Tectonic features and ponded deposits Fractures, uplift and debris Impact crater candidate Ripples and wind-tails A dynamic surface Flow on the surface Crack in Anuket Imhotep (side) Comet wide-angle view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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