The Rosetta ballistic capsule is long gone , but we ’re still getting some interesting scientific discipline from the groundbreaking mission . Now , we ’ve got a unexampled look at a plume ejecting from the comet it orbit .
The burst of dust was spot on Comet 67P / Churyumov - Gerasimenko on July 3 , 2016 by the orbiting ballistic capsule . Above , you’re able to see a remarkable range snapped by the spacecraft prove the event .
What ’s even more awing , though , is that Rosetta also flew through the feather . This meant it was able to habituate five of its instruments to hit the books it directly . And the results show there ’s still a flock about comet we do n’t understand . These were published in a paper in theMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .
“ This plume was really particular , ” said Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen , Germany , head generator of the newspaper , in astatement .
“ We have great data from five different instruments on how the surface change and on the squirt material because Rosetta was , by opportunity , flying through the plume and looking at the veracious part of the surface when it fall out . ”
The scientists found that the feather ejected dust at a charge per unit of 18 kilo ( 40 pounds ) every s . The bright plume blew away from the comet like a fountain .
It originate from a rampart 10 meters ( 33 feet ) high around a round magnetic dip in the control surface of the comet . And it was n’t just junk in the feather – Rosetta also notice midget grains of water - ice , too .
While plumes have been seen before , this one was especially interesting because Rosetta was able to sample it at the same time . At first , scientists think it was the solution of ice evaporating in sunlight , but the measurement revealed something else .
Instead , scientist recall an up-and-coming process was rent place under the Earth’s surface , which would explain why so much junk was confound off . The precise cause , however , is a bit of a enigma . Some theories paint a picture pressurized gas house of cards rising underground may have been the cause , or even stores of Methedrine reacting violently to sun .
“ Energy must have been unfreeze from beneath the control surface to power it , ” said Agarwal . “ There are evidently processes in comets that we do not yet full infer . ”
Rosetta ’s missioncame to an endon September 30 , 2016 when the spacecraft was purposefully crashed into the comet ’s open . There ’s still quite a little of science to sift through from the mission , though , which will hopefully tell us more about how comets go .
