The Rosetta space vehicle has taken hundreds of sensational photographs of Comet 67P / Churyumov - Gerasimenko over the preceding class , but a portion of the comet was obscured due to its uneven seasonal shifts . Now , thanks to a limited tv camera aboard Rosetta , scientists have create a resume of its elusive dark side .
Comet 67P / C - G ’s twofold - lobed shape and rotational axis vertebra has present it a rather odd seasonal pattern over its 6.5 year - tenacious orbit . Its northern hemisphere experiences a long summer that lasts 5.5 years , during which time the comet ’s southern hemisphere undergoes a long , dark winter . But when the comet gets close to the Sun , i.e. the perihelion point , its southerly hemisphere transitions to a abbreviated — but hot — summer .
Not much to see here : the comet ’s dark side as seen by the ocular OSIRIS camera . ( photograph credit entry : ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team )
The comet ’s northern hemisphere was still know its recollective summertime when Rosetta make it , making it difficult for its onboard cameras to take a picture . Without direct illumination from the Sun , the VIRTIS and OSIRIS television camera were of little help . But during the first several months of the coming upon , the Microwave Instrument for Rosetta ( MIRO ) was capable to skim the colored side .
Ah , that ’s better : subsurface temperature maps of 67P - one C , showing the southerly cerebral hemisphere of the comet . Data from MIRO is projected on a digital material body model of the comet . ( Image credit rating : ESA / Rosetta / NASA / JPL - Caltech )
sensing element on this equipment can detect the amount and temperature of substance like water , ammonia , and carbon dioxide via their microwave emissions . MIRO allowed NASA scientists to mensurate the chemical components of the comet ’s non-white side and paint a topographical picture .
Specifically , the scientist detected extremely transparent cloth on or below the comet ’s surface , which is a possible indication of water supply meth or carbon paper dioxide shabu . A spill from NASA elaborates :
The difference between the surface and subsurface composition of this part of the lens nucleus and that found elsewhere might uprise in the comet ’s queer rhythm of seasons . One of the potential explanations is that piddle and other gases that were released during the comet ’s previous perihelion , when the southern hemisphere was the most lit portion of the nucleus . The water supply condensed again and precipitate on the control surface after the season change and the southern hemisphere plunged again into its tenacious and cold winter .
The upshot are only preliminary . The scientists say they plan on revisiting the MIRO data using an updated translation of the model .
[ NASA ]
ScienceSpace
Daily Newsletter
Get the better technical school , science , and cultivation tidings in your inbox daily .
newsworthiness from the future , give birth to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
