Posted on 01/23/2015 7:39:21 AM PST by BenLurkin
Researchers working with Rosetta have found that the comet harbors organic compounds, carbon-based molecules that are sometimes known as the chemical building blocks of life. This marks the first time organic molecules have been detected on the surface of a comet's nucleus, according to Fabrizio Capaccioni, the principal investigator of the VIRTIS instrument on Rosetta.
The northern hemisphere of the comet's nucleus is also filled with dunes and ripples that look somewhat like geological markings on Earth, Mars and Venus. Comet 67P/C-G doesn't have a robust atmosphere and high gravity like those planets, and yet it still has structures resembling sand dunes, according to Nicolas Thomas, the co-investigator of the OSIRIS imaging instrument on Rosetta.
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Rosetta has also been studying the atmosphere (coma) around the comet's nucleus. The probe has detected dust grains orbiting the comet, and scientists are hoping to learn more about how they form and why they remain in the comet's orbit. As the comet gets closer to the sun and more dust is released from the cosmic body, it's possible that the Rosetta team will have more opportunities to learn about the dust-to-gas ratio of the comet, Rotundi said.
Researchers working with the program aren't yet sure if the comet is what's known as a contact binary — two lumps of different cosmic bodies stuck together.
Comet 67P/C-G appears to be dehydrated on its sunlit side, according to Thomas, but as the sun starts to hit the southern hemisphere of the comet it's possible that that side of the comet will begin to become active and heat up. The shifting sunlight could give the team a chance to understand more about the comet's origins.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
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>> “You don’t find it interesting that there are organic compounds on the comet?” <<
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I would be greatly surprised if they didn’t; they all came from Earth by volcanic eruption originally.
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Where'd you get that one from?
“one compound doesn’t completely morph into another different compound;”
Actually, a compound irradiated with ultraviolet can change into a completely different compound.
You can put all the loose parts of a 747 in a giant box, but no matter how long you shake that big it never will build back into a plane. Adding a few zeros to the time scale does not change that.
> “one compound doesn’t completely morph into another different compound;”
Actually, a compound irradiated with ultraviolet can change into a completely different compound.
Completely different? I doubt it. It still has remnants of what it once was. Are you going to tell me Al Gore is right next?...lol
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>> “Where’d you get that one from?” <<
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Logic!
Every comet is roughly co-planar with the Earth and the sun.
They can’t have come from the sun, so they had to come from the Earth. The notation of life sourced materials on this comet is the icing on the cake.
(or are you one of the kooks holding out for the imaginary “oort cloud?”)
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By that logic, every other planet is also roughly co-planar with the Earth and the Sun. Did all of them also come from
Earth, too?
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Every compound on the surface of the Earth is constantly irradiated by the entire spectrum, but no great change therefrom has been observed, outside of decomposition.
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Are you really claiming that the spin of the Earth keeps us from flying off of it?
All of the planets are not even of similar composition!
The comets that have been observed are of Earth-like composition.
Assumming for the sake of discussion that’s true, how did they get from Earth and its orbit to their current orbits?
Big deal my 1965 comet had a lot carbon-based molecules.
Family and Bourbon, otherwise I would be off this ball of mud.
Study Kepler’s theorem.
They have been observed in most cases long enough to determine their orbit periods and they appear to be constant, so they are in a balanced orbit around the earth and the sun. Were they not, their passage around Earth would not be constant, and the fact that they are constant about the Earth means that they are not orbiting about any other planet, since the relationship between the planets is constantly advancing, or declining.
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Halley’s Comet, during it’s last visit to the inner Solar System, had a velocity relative to Earth of roughly 150,000 mph.
Volcanos can do that?
The “Slingshot effect” that our research vehicles also use can do that.
Large ejecta from volcanoes did often escape near orbit of the Earth. The dusty stuff always falls way short.
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The Slingshot Effect only works when the body getting the slingshot boost is carefully guided to just the right trajectory relative to the other body.
Otherwise ... does the phrase “Shoemaker-Levy” mean anything to you?
If some ejecta from Earth volcanos reached escape velocity from Earth, why didn’t eject from other less-powerful volcanos simply remain in orbit around Earth?
Parts for a 747 will not attach themselves at the molecular level. Certain chemicals will.
I said gravity holds us on, I was speculating as to what keeps the comet together since it has little gravity and no spin (as far as I know) to create gravity as is done in a spaceship to create artificial gravity.
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