ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has made the 1st in situ detection of oxygen molecules outgassing from a comet, a surprising observation that suggests they were incorporated into the comet during its formation.
Rosetta has been studying Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for over a year and has detected an abundance of different gases pouring from its nucleus. Water vapour, CO and CO2 are the most prolific, with a rich array of other N-, S- and C-bearing species, and even ‘noble gases’ also recorded...
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