Rosetta's Comet Is Actually 2 Comets Stuck Together 45
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.
2...2...2 comets in one! (Score:3)
Think about this folks... (Score:2, Funny)
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I liked that movie :(
Did you see him in Guardians of the Galaxy?
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I couldn't take the movie seriously after the presence of duck boobs within the opening scene.
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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.
Not surprising and kind of arbitrary (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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keep your space orgy porn to yourself.
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keep your space orgy porn to yourself.
A little privacy folks - It's comet mating season, ya insensitive clods!
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When a daddy comet and a mommy comet love each other very much, they collide into each other and give birth to a baby comet that is much bigger than the two of them???? And it looks like a duck, which begs the question who's child it really is.
Wow... that went down hill really fast.
Comets have no morals you know.
Electric universe (Score:2)
There's a less-well-known set of theories under the name Electric Universe [rationalwiki.org] 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
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The solar wind is composed mainly of positively charged molucules, however also electrons. Protons and Alpha particles (helium cores).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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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....
Heh (Score:3)
Rosetta has a nice pair of comets, if you catch my drift.
think.. think they know (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Orbits the sun, clears its own orbit (Score:1)
So it's a planet?
So... (Score:2)
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"You see honey, when two comets love each other very, very much, they give each other a special kind of hug...."
"Stuck together" or.... (Score:4, Funny)
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...."
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What about the split part later on? ;)
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What about the split part later on? ;)
"You see, honey...daddy caught mommy hugging another comet, and so mommy and daddy are each going to live apart from now on..."
Ludicrous (Score:1)
Space Balls