On November 12, it was a year since Philae made its historic landing on the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta arrived at the Comet 67P on August 6 and Philae was delivered to the surface on November 12. Rosetta did an initial survey before selecting the Agilkia region as the landing site. However, the Agilkia region did … Continue reading Philae: one year on comet 67P
comet 67P
Surprising discovery of oxygen in 67P comet’s atmosphere
The Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has thrown a very big surprise — its atmosphere contains molecular oxygen. Based on our current thinking, the presence of molecular oxygen in a comet had been ruled out. But chemical analysis of its atmosphere using ROSINA mass spectrometer on board the Rosetta spacecraft has shown that molecular oxygen is not only … Continue reading Surprising discovery of oxygen in 67P comet’s atmosphere
Two objects fused to form Rosetta’s 67P comet
The rubber-duck shaped comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P) made up of a larger lobe and a smaller lobe separated by a thin ‘neck’ region were once two fully formed, distinct objects that merged together, notes a study published recently in the journal Nature . The origin of the comet’s double-lobed form has been a key question since … Continue reading Two objects fused to form Rosetta’s 67P comet
Editorial: Rosetta makes space history
After travelling a distance of 6.4 billion kilometres since it was launched in March 2004, Rosetta made space history on August 6 when it became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet — 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a 4.5-km-long object. The craft, which is at an altitude of about 100 km, will in the next couple of … Continue reading Editorial: Rosetta makes space history
Surprising discovery of oxygen in 67P comet’s atmosphere
Published in The Hindu on October 29, 2015 The Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has thrown a very big surprise — its atmosphere contains molecular oxygen. Based on our current thinking, the presence of molecular oxygen in a comet had been ruled out. But chemical analysis of its atmosphere using ROSINA mass spectrometer on board the Rosetta spacecraft … Continue reading Surprising discovery of oxygen in 67P comet’s atmosphere
Two objects fused to form Rosetta’s 67P comet
Published in The Hindu on October 4, 2015 The rubber-duck shaped comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P) made up of a larger lobe and a smaller lobe separated by a thin ‘neck’ region were once two fully formed, distinct objects that merged together, notes a study published recently in the journal Nature. The origin of the comet’s double-lobed … Continue reading Two objects fused to form Rosetta’s 67P comet
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