Rosetta probe makes key discovery

The observations will help in learning the role comets in providing Earth with water, and perhaps even life.

June 03, 2015 03:21 pm | Updated April 09, 2016 01:17 am IST - Washington

A handout image of an artist's impression, not to scale, of the Rosetta orbiter deploying the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on December 3, 2013. European spacecraft Rosetta became the first ever to rendezvous with a comet August 6, 2014, as part of a decade-long deep space mission that scientists hope will help unlock some of the secrets of the solar system. Rosetta, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2004, will accompany comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its trip around the sun and land a probe on it later this year in an unprecedented manoeuvre.   REUTERS/ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab/Handout via Reuters  (GERMANY - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

A handout image of an artist's impression, not to scale, of the Rosetta orbiter deploying the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on December 3, 2013. European spacecraft Rosetta became the first ever to rendezvous with a comet August 6, 2014, as part of a decade-long deep space mission that scientists hope will help unlock some of the secrets of the solar system. Rosetta, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2004, will accompany comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its trip around the sun and land a probe on it later this year in an unprecedented manoeuvre. REUTERS/ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab/Handout via Reuters (GERMANY - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

A NASA instrument on board the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has given a new insight into how comet atmosphere is built.

The Alice instrument found that electrons close to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — and not photons from the sun as had been believed — cause the rapid break-up of water and carbon dioxide molecules spewing from the comet’s surface.

The Alice on board Rosetta is probing the origin, composition and workings of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to gather information that cannot be obtained by either ground-based or Earth-orbiting observation.

It has more than 1,000 times the data-gathering capability of instruments flown a generation ago, yet it weighs less than 4 kilograms and draws just 4 watts of power.

“The discovery we are reporting is quite unexpected. It shows us the value of going to comets to observe them up close, since this discovery simply could not have been made from earth or earth orbit with any existing or planned observatory,” said Alan Stern, principal investigator for the Alice instrument at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado.

It is fundamentally transforming our knowledge of comets, he added.

Alice data indicate much of the water and carbon dioxide in the comet’s coma originate from plumes erupting from its surface.

It is similar to those that the Hubble Space Telescope discovered on Jupiter’s moon Europa.

By looking at the emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms broken from the water molecules, Alice scientists can trace the location and structure of water plumes from the surface of the comet.

The comet observations will help scientists learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the role comets may have played in providing Earth with water, and perhaps even life.

A report of the findings has been accepted for publication by the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics .

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