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Astronomy Picture of the Day - A High Cliff on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 28 Nov, 2021 | Image Credit & Licence: ESA, Rosetta spacecraft, NAVCAM; Additional Processing: Stuart Atkinson

Posted on 11/28/2021 2:58:20 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: This high cliff occurs not on a planet, not on a moon, but on a comet. It was discovered to be part of the dark nucleus of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG) by Rosetta, a robotic spacecraft launched by ESA that rendezvoused with the Sun-orbiting comet in 2014. The ragged cliff, as featured here, was imaged by Rosetta in 2014. Although towering about one kilometer high, the low surface gravity of Comet CG would likely make it an accessible climb -- and even a jump from the cliff survivable. At the foot of the cliff is relatively smooth terrain dotted with boulders as large as 20 meters across. Data from Rosetta indicates that the ice in Comet CG has a significantly different deuterium fraction -- and hence likely a different origin -- than the water in Earth's oceans. Rosetta ended its mission with a controlled impact onto Comet CG in 2016. Comet CG has just completed another close approach to Earth and remains visible through a small telescope.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; catastrophism; churyumovgerasimenko; comet; comets; deuterium; nasa; science
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To: Eagles6
--I see what you did there.--

Very perceptive on your part. Throwing Miranda, Uranus, and moon in one sentence is a minefield of possibilities; few good.

21 posted on 11/28/2021 4:52:39 PM PST by JPG (You can't unjab the jab.)
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To: null and void

Yeah. Hmm? Hmm?


22 posted on 11/28/2021 4:53:34 PM PST by JusPasenThru (Let’s go Brandon!)
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To: JPG

🤣👌👍


23 posted on 11/28/2021 5:59:27 PM PST by Eagles6 (Welcome to the Matrix . Orwell's "1984" was a warning, not an instruction manual.)
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To: MtnClimber

Amazing picture. My guess is the cliff and resulting valley were formed from a violent hit with a smaller piece of space debris, perhaps something in the Asteroid belt?


24 posted on 11/28/2021 6:51:09 PM PST by IMTOFT (At least I'm enjoying the ride...)
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To: MtnClimber

25 posted on 11/29/2021 5:57:23 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: minnesota_bound

Yep- the Vulcans had the tractor beam to use when Enterprise’s grappler failed. Good episode.


26 posted on 11/29/2021 8:48:39 AM PST by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Militia to the border! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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