REAL LIFE NEWS: COMET 67P’S POWERFUL JET
by Hazed
Comet 67P is farting! It’s been jetting gas out in dust-filled streams and as it moved closer to the sun, with its closest approach happening last Thursday, chunks of ice were breaking off and falling into space.
The surface of the comet has been fracturing, and up to 40% of the previously-smooth plains have been remoulded in the year since Rosetta took up its orbit around the comet.
Click on the source link below to see a picture of one of the jets, which appeared on July 29 in the rugged Anuket region on the comet’s neck. This was the brightest jet observed from the comet.
The force of the jet was great enough to disrupt the solar wind, which changed the magnetic field around 67P.
The comet is most active at perihelion – that’s when it’s closest to the sun – because sunlight is reaching parts that have been in shadow for years, so the surface temperature is suddenly increasing. Activity will now slacken as it starts to move away from the sun.
Meanwhile, the fact that the Philae lander is lodged in the shadows may protect it for longer than planned. If it had landed where expected, it would probably have been cooked by now.
Source: http://space.io9.com/this-jet-from-rosettas-comet-was-so-strong-it-disrupted-1723544671
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150815.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/13/chill_philae_shadow_might_protect_lander_from_being_cooked/
