Waspie_Dwarf Posted June 24, 2015 #1 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Exposed water ice detected on comet’s surface 24 June 2015 Using the high-resolution science camera on board ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, scientists have identified more than a hundred patches of water ice a few metres in size on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.Rosetta arrived at the comet in August 2014 at a distance of about 100 km and eventually orbited the comet at 10 km or less, allowing high-resolution images of the surface to be acquired. A new study just published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics focuses on an analysis of bright patches of exposed ice on the comet’s surface. Read more... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted June 28, 2015 #2 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I guess that is hardly surprising since comets have long been thought to be composed of ice, dust and rock. It is really cool to be able to get back data from the comet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted June 29, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I guess that is hardly surprising since comets have long been thought to be composed of ice, dust and rock. Yes, but it is generally expected that they would be in a mixture. What has been discovered are areas of pure ice on the surface. This has not been observed before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZDZ Posted June 29, 2015 #4 Share Posted June 29, 2015 The comet has been outgassing, correct? Perhaps the mixture elements separate upon being released then some of the water vapor re-freezes as water ice and falls back. I'm picturing a tea kettle with a whistling feature. Once boiling pressure is achieved and the spout begins to whistle, looking closely would reveal two things; a stream of steam cleaning blowing out and away but around the nozzle, little sputters and spatters of already re-condensing/ed water would be present. Maybe a similar kind of thing occurs at jet openings under the right conditions. I'm totally spit-balling here folks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 13, 2016 Author #5 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Exposed ice on Rosetta’s comet confirmed as water 13 January 2016 Observations made shortly after Rosetta’s arrival at its target comet in 2014 have provided definitive confirmation of the presence of water ice.Although water vapour is the main gas seen flowing from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the great majority of ice is believed to come from under the comet’s crust, and very few examples of exposed water ice have been found on the surface. Read more... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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