Wild 2 Comet Analyzed

Mz6 writes "Back in January Slashdot reported about the Stardust probe and its capture of particles from the tail of Wild 2 (pronounced 'Vilt 2'). You might also remember about how it snapped 72 images of the comet and sent them back to JPL. Well, after a detailed analysis of the comet Wild 2 and building upon preliminary analysis in March, it has left astronomers at JPL astounded at an object that has no known peers in the solar system. The comet has towering protrusions and steep-walled craters that seem to defy gravity, more than a dozen jets of material shoot out from its insides, dust swirls around the comet in unexpectedly dense pockets, and boasts 2 large 'footprints', aptly named Left and Right."

Comments

Links

[Mz6]

Ok... Well when I submitted this story I forgot to include links to the Stardust Website, Wild 2 Photos, and some interesting Wild 2 Stereo Photos (2.0 MB). Best of all.. there's minimal reading, just pretty pictures. Enjoy :)

Gravity?

[digidave]

The comet has towering protrusions and steep-walled craters that seem to defy gravity

Really? On an object flying in space? Whodathunkit?

Re:Gravity?

[gowen]

Well, the planet Earth is an object flying in space, and yet our surface constructions seem constrained by the force of gravity.

What's it made of?

[kippy]

I know it's a dirty snowball but I'm really curious about how much is water, how much is ammonia and other stuff and how much is rock. In the crazy proto-science of terraforming, comets are earmarked for use as atmosphere builders. Depending on the general makeup of the objects, it could drastically change the models for terraforming Mars, Venus and other places.

Re:Gravity defying craters?

[Mz6]

Here's a bit as to why... From the article:

Craters on Wild 2, presumably caused by run-ins with smaller objects, are strangely free of the powder, rocks and other debris commonly seen in impact craters on other bodies. Brownlee thinks this is because the comet is a bit like hard, frozen dirt that takes a hit but is brittle, so material flies out.

And because the comet is so small, the material does not fall back.

"There's almost no gravity at the surface," Brownlee said. "If you were standing on [the surface], you could jump into orbit."

Wow!

[Insomnia]

...you mean that stupid, stupid movie (Armageddon) actually might have had the look of a comet right? Who'd have thought.

--I no longer spellcheck - it cost me 5 points. ;)

I'm much more interested in the analysis ...

[burgburgburg]

of the Girls Gone Wild 2 comet.

Much hotter then other space bodies, that much is known.

Re:And the number 2?

[hopemafia]

Given that Vilt is the German pronounciation of Wild, I would guess 2 is pronouced zwei.

Even Funnier

[virg_mattes]

> you mean that stupid, stupid movie (Armageddon) actually might have had the look of a comet right?

Well, this is made even funnier by the idea that Armageddon was a movie about a meteor, not a comet. Carry on.

Virg

Jump into orbit?

[Rei]

The thing is, that doesn't seem right. You shouldn't be able to "jump into orbit" anywhere (barring atmospheric braking, a change of mass, additional thrust applied, etc, to change your velocity). Your path will either intersect the object you're jumping from, or break its escape velocity. Perhaps this is different for irregularly shaped bodies with irregular gravitational fields, but good luck trying to establish a stable orbit there through "jumping"....

Now, you *could* "run into orbit", assuming you can get the traction to do so, on a perfectly smooth low gravity atmosphere-less body - you run up to orbital velocity, then curl your body up, and you'll orbit at the altitude of your center of mass. But, if you were to have any significant "jumping" component, you'll likely make yourself intersect the body you're trying to orbit.

Also, you could jump up and throw a rock and enter orbit that way. However, in the case that you're dealing with a uniform graviational field around a perfect sphere, and the rock that you throw has the same mass as you, you'll hit it on the other side ;)