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Rosetta's Comet Is Actually 2 Comets Stuck Together
astroengine writes: Scientists have solved the mystery of why the comet being studied by Europe's Rosetta spacecraft is shaped like a rubber duck — it started off as TWO separate comets, a new study shows. Ever since Rosetta sent back pictures of its twin-lobed target more than a year ago, scientists have debated whether the comet, known as 67P/Churyumov-Garasimenko, could be the result of two comets that merged together during the solar system's early years. The other option is that the so-called "neck region" between 67P's two lobes experienced some particularly active and still unexplained outgassing over the eons, eroding its more spherical shape into a body that resembles a rubber duck. "Our study rules out the possibility that the comet shape is the outcome of erosion," planetary scientist Matteo Massironi, with the University of Padova in Italy, wrote in an email to Discovery News. Rather, the neck region is where two independent bodies collided, analysis of high-resolution images taken by the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft shows.
should be named Comet Certs.
This is where George Lucas buried Howard the Duck after the movie bombed.
Almost everything in the solar system built up by accretion. Small bodies aggregate into larger ones by collision. If the bodies have enough mass they coalesce into spherical forms under gravitational attraction.
This comet probably started out has hundreds of bodies (millions, billions, trillions, depending on where you decide the cut off is between body, dust, molecule) -- of which we are focusing on just one of the last, largest collisions.
Letter To Iran
Rosetta has a nice pair of comets, if you catch my drift.
You are welcome on my lawn.
No. In fact, it was named Churyumov-Garasimenko so that Russian scientists could get a chuckle out of watching US scientists trying to pronounce it.
You are welcome on my lawn.
They think they know. They've done some homework, some research and have come up with a couple of hypothesis. They think they've ruled out one but they don't actually know. FTFY
I for one hold out hope for the large drinking rocks theory where the shape was determined by an over-wash of Jack Daniels.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
So it's a planet?
it needs a good squeeze and a more probable origin theory likely will become apparent. If it looks like a rubber duckie, squeaks like a rubber duckie....
Is this how baby comets are made?
There's a less-well-known set of theories under the name Electric Universe that posit electric forces having a large effect on accretion.
It supposes that individual bodies in space can pick an electric charge through various means, and are thus attracted to bodies of the opposite charge. This explains why many bodies seem to be "double lumps" caused by the joining of two prior bodies (and not three or more).
Static is a problem for space travel, so I've heard. With no atmosphere to bleed off the charge, any friction tends to leave behind a static charge, making your helmet visor a magnet for dust, for instance.
I wonder if the solar wind has areas of net positive and net negative charge, so that bodies orbiting in various ways could pick up such an electric charge and thus be attracted to other bodies.
Any astronomers here care to comment?
How can I explain this to my kid?
"You see honey, when two comets love each other very, very much, they give each other a special kind of hug...."
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Space Balls
Cryonics - Keep cool and carry on.