Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko tagged posts

An atmospheric light show previously relegated to planets and Jupiter moons is found on comet using data from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft. Data from NASA instruments aboard the ESA (European Space Agency) Rosetta mission have helped reveal that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has its own far-ultraviolet aurora. It is the first time such electromagnetic emissions in the far-ultraviolet have been documented on a celestial object other than a planet or moon. A paper on the findings was released today in the journal Nature Astronomy.

On Earth, aurora (also known as the northern or southern light...

Comet 67P that orbits the sun has growing fractures, collapsing cliffs and rolling boulders, according to scientists working on the Rosetta mission. Credit: NASA

Images returned from the ESA’s Rosetta mission indicate the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was a very active place during its most recent trip through the solar system, says a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder. The images show the comet’s surface is full of growing fractures, collapsing cliffs and massive rolling boulders. Moving material buried some features on the comet’s surface and exhumed others. A study on 67P’s changing surface was released Tuesday in the journal Science.

“As comets approach the sun, they go into overdrive and exhibit spectacular changes on their surface,” said Ramy El-Maarry, ...

Carbon dioxide detection

As Rosetta’s comet approached its most active period last year, the spacecraft spotted CO2 ice – never before seen on a comet – followed by the emergence of 2 unusually large patches of water ice. The CO2 ice layer covered an area comparable to the size of a football pitch, while the two water ice patches were each larger than an Olympic swimming pool and much larger than any signs of water ice previously spotted at the comet.The 3 icy layers were all found in the same region, on the comet’s southern hemisphere.

A combination of the complex shape of the comet, its elongated path around the Sun and the substantial tilt of its spin, seasons are spread unequally between the 2 hemispheres of the double-lobed Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko...

Using statistical analysis and scientific computing, astronomers at Western University have charted a path that most likely pinpoints the very origins of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which is vital information in discovering what kind of material it is made from and just how long it has been present in our solar system. Credit: Western/Galiazzo/Wiegert

When the Rosetta spacecraft successfully touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 30, 2016, the news was shared globally and now the ESA and NASA are eager to learn as much as possible about the critically important celestial body of ice...