Comet 67P/C-G on July 20, 2015 taken from a distance of 106 miles (171 km) from the comet’s center.
Rosetta has been keeping a safe distance recently as 67P/C-G approaches perihelion.
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Posted on 08/01/2015 11:43:56 AM PDT by BenLurkin
After first touching down, Philae was able to use its gas-sniffing Ptolemy and COSAC instruments to determine the makeup of the comet’s atmosphere and surface materials. COSAC analyzed samples that entered tubes at the bottom of the lander and found ice-poor dust grains that were rich in organic compounds containing carbon and nitrogen. It found 16 in all including methyl isocyanate, acetone, propionaldehyde and acetamide that had never been seen in comets before.
Ptolemy sampled the atmosphere entering tubes at the top of the lander and identified water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, along with smaller amounts of carbon-bearing organic compounds, including formaldehyde. Some of these juicy organic delights have long been thought to have played a role in life’s origins. Formaldehyde reacts with other commonly available materials to form complex sugars like ribose which forms the backbone of RNA and is related to the sugar deoxyribose, the “D” in DNA.
ROLIS (Rosetta Lander Imaging System) images taken shortly before the first touchdown revealed a surface of 3-foot-wide (meter-size) irregular-shaped blocks and coarse “soil” or regolith covered in “pebbles” 4-20 inches (10–50 cm) across as well as a mix of smaller debris.
...
CONSERT, which passed radio waves through the nucleus between the lander and the orbiter, showed that the small lobe of the comet is a very loosely compacted mixture of dust and ice with a porosity of 75-85%, about that of lightly compacted snow. CONSERT was also used to help triangulate Philae’s location on the surface, nailing it down to an area just 69 x 112 feet ( 21 x 34 m) wide.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
I won der if we’ll be able to watch this thing break in two as it comes around the sun.
If the EPA finds out about all those nasty chemicals that comet could face some big fines.
Carbon dioxide=comet warming? Bringing it to a planet near you.
Ah, an apple core!
I hope OSHA doesn’t hear about the methyl isocyanate.
Did you catch King’a faux pas observatiom here paraphraaed ? “16 organic chemicals (listed) never seen before in comets.
“Once you don a pair of red-blue glasses, click the photos for the high-res versions and get your mind blown.”
One could almost describe it as “without form and void.” It certainly has no simple form.
The layering is interesting.
Thanks BenLurkin, extra to APoD.
Just once, a Frank Booth reference would've been nice.
If gravity has its way there will be way more than two pieces.
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