Things are literally hotting up in space this week as the comet being trailed by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission is set to reach its closest point to the sun – an event that could see it split in half.
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On July 29, with ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft in orbital tow, the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) -long Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko fired its brightest jet yet since Rosetta’s arrival just over a full year ago, on August 6, 2014.
The solar wind is the constant stream of electrically charged particles that flows out from the Sun, carrying its magnetic field out into the Solar System. The Rosetta spacecraft of Europe will then orbit nearby, gather all the clues it can and hopefully unravel more information about how the universe or the star system came to exist.
A close-up image of the most active pit, known as Seth 01, observed on the surface of the comet 67P/ …
A 500-metre-long fracture has already been spotted in the “duck-shaped” comet’s 0.6-mile wide neck – right where the rupture would be likely to happen as the rising temperatures build up the forces in its interior.
Rosetta project scientist, Dr. Matt Taylor said that Perihelion is an important milestone in any comet’s calendar.
Right now, 67P with its precious cargo is hurtling through space at 34.17 km per second.
“We’ve been moving Rosetta out to distances of up to 300 km in recent weeks to avoid problems with navigation caused by dust, and we had considered that the diamagnetic cavity was out of our grasp for the time being”.
But even if Philae has gone permanently silent, scientists can learn a lot from before-and-after images, gas samples and other measurements taken by Rosetta itself. Yet, scientists do not want to move it too far because they may lose sight on precious materials.
Rosetta’s instruments can still catch particles, but these are less sensitive than Philae’s.
Comets may have brought water and the chemical building blocks for life to Earth during impacts in the early years of the solar system.
The Rosetta mission was launched in 2004 and the spacecraft arrived around the comet in August 2014, three months late than the scheduled time.
It bounced twice before settling some distance from its targeted landing site and partially in shadow, depriving its solar panels of sunlight.
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He also explained what data Philae’s various onboard sensors have been sending back: “We have been learning about the magnetisation of the comet – which is actually about the size of downtown San Diego – and the nature of its water and organic molecules”. – June 13: As 67P nears the Sun, Philae’s batteries are recharged, it emerges from hibernation and sends home a two-minute message.
