Comet-chasing space probe makes surprise discovery
| What is the history of Comet 67P? How did it come to take this form? |
The pictures show that 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko appears to be not one but two objects joined together. It is what scientists call a “contact binary”.
How the comet came to take this form is unknown.
It is possible that 67P suffered a major fracture at some point in its past; it is also possible the two parts have totally different origins.
What is clear is that the European Space Agency (Esa) mission team now has additional and unexpected considerations as it plans how to land on the comet later this year – not least, which part of the comet should be chosen for a touchdown?
The images in the sequence of nine were acquired last Friday.
They are an interpolation. That is, the “real” pictures are much more pixelated because of the thousands of km that still separate the probe and the comet. The outlines that you see have therefore been “smoothed” to make the scene easier to understand.
- Named after its 1969 discoverers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko
- Referred to as a “Jupiter class” comet that takes 6.45 years to orbit the Sun
- Orbit takes it as close as 180 million km from the Sun, and as far as 840 million km
- The icy core, or nucleus, is about 4km (2.5 mi) across and rotates every 12.4 hours
With hindsight, there were indications in last week’s official image release that something unusual might be about to unfold. But the idea that 67P could be a contact binary is a major surprise.
Rosetta is still refining its rendezvous with the comet, firing its thrusters weekly to bring itself into orbit on 6 August.
By that stage, the Esa probe should be no more than 70km from the surface of the 4.5km-wide ball of ice.
| Last week’s official image release revealed a lobed object |
Once scientists understand better the gravitational field of 67P, the orbit will be lowered to about 30km.
It is that point that mapping can begin to select a touchdown zone for Philae – the small landing robot currently riding piggyback on Rosetta.
This historic touchdown is currently scheduled for 11 November.
Source: http://www.ascensionearth2012.org/2014/07/comet-chasing-space-probe-makes.html
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