Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: BenLurkin

Four grains of dust in as many days? I think “spewing” might be a bit of an overstatement.


2 posted on 08/13/2014 6:58:34 AM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Charles Martel

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.


5 posted on 08/13/2014 7:15:55 AM PDT by cripplecreek ("Moderates" are lying manipulative bottom feeding scum.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]

To: Charles Martel
Four grains of dust in as many days? I think “spewing” might be a bit of an overstatement.

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".

7 posted on 08/13/2014 8:56:24 AM PDT by no-s (when democracy is displaced by tyranny, the armed citizen still gets to vote)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson