Rosetta probe found “surprising” the presence of oxygen in the comet 67P – Daily Mail

Rosetta spacecraft discovered the existence of molecular oxygen (O2) from the gases surrounding the comet 67P, an important for understanding the origin of the solar system discovery, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

This is the first observation of oxygen in the colon (hair) of a comet, composed mainly of water vapor, carbon monoxide and dioxide Carbon .

“It was very surprising,” said Andre Bieler, a researcher at the University of Michigan and author of the study. “We did not expect to find anything oxygen.”

Although it had already been detected in other celestial bodies containing ice-as for example the moons of Jupiter and Saturno–, so far the presence of oxygen in a comet was unknown, although now presumed to be common.

It was detected by the mass spectrometer of the European probe Rosetta, accompanying the comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko in its journey around the sun.

Measurements made O2 reveal an amount of 3.8% relative to the amount of water (H2O) present. The analysis of this ratio shows that oxygen and water present in the comet have the same origin.

This suggests that the O2 present in the molecular cloud from which the Solar System, it would have incorporated into the nucleus of the comet during the formation of the celestial body.

OXYGEN PRIMORDIAL

“We think it is essential oxygen”, ie from that parent molecular cloud, Bieler said.

According to the astronomer, it appears that much of the material from the molecular cloud has survived unchanged to the subsequent formation of the solar system 5,000 million years ago.

Rosetta will continue to monitor the presence of oxygen to try to understand what it means as well as the transformations in the comet 67P after passing on August 13 by the perihelion, the closest point in its elliptical orbit the sun.

With its 11 instruments, Rosetta is held in irregular orbits the comet, currently 270 million kilometers from Earth, with which it communicates via radio waves.

Instead, the robot-laboratory Philae, perched almost a year ago on the comet, has shown no sign of life since 9 July.

Your batteries are charged with difficulty because it is in a hilly area with little exposure to sunlight.

The Adventures of the probe are not over. Europe continued their mission until September 2016 and even considered the possibility of “put it down” as gently as possible on the celestial body to close its scientific adventure that encounter in space.