Posted on 08/13/2014 6:49:26 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Preliminary measurements by a dust detector aboard the Rosetta spacecraft show that dust is at least as frequent — or perhaps even more abundant — than what models have predicted. Meanwhile, as reported on Universe Today earlier this week, Rosetta’s COSIMA instrument is also doing dust measurements.
Rosetta’s Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator (GIADA) has already detected four dust grains on its impact sensor. The detections took place between Aug. 1 and Aug. 5 at various distances as Rosetta approached the comet, starting from as far as 814 kilometers (506 miles) to as close as 179 kilometers (111 miles). Rosetta arrived at the comet on Aug. 6.
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While the results are scientifically interesting, the European Space Agency pointed out that they will also have practical use.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Four grains of dust in as many days? I think “spewing” might be a bit of an overstatement.
Will the dust be between the Sun and Earth and if so will that have any effect on the temperature on earth? Not enough info in article to think so but...
When the Oort cloud spews a hairball....
That is 4 that Rosetta has collected from between 506 and 111 miles away. This is a short period comet so I suspect it ejects relatively little compared to long period comets.
Interplanetary dust grains are a few micrometers in size, and mass a few nanograms at best. Normally there would be no expectation of dust grains detected in the small volume of interplanetary space surrounding the comet as the probe travels near. If you aggregate all of the material normally present in that volume you probably would end up with a quantity too small to see with the naked eye. Four grains is a thick fog of dust by comparison.
I suspect the dust detector is an impact detector. That implies the dust has some velocity, so substitute "spewing geyser" for "fog".
If models predicted it, then the debate is over. The observations are clearly wrong. This is the new scientific method.
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