An international team of scientist has propose that Comet 67P Churyumov - Gerasimenko , which theRosettaspacecraft is orb , was formed by two freestanding comets merging into one . Their new study , published in the journalNature , suggest a low-pitched - velocity impact caused the single consistence to form .
Comet 67P has two separate lobe connected by a “ neck , ” and scientists had been shy whether this was the result of a larger original comet being worn down by the Sun over clip , or two separate objects fusing slowly together . This late inquiry point heavily to the latter .
Using information from the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta spacecraft , the work led by Matteo Massironi of the University of Padova in Italy receive that the lobes of the comet were made of " Allium cepa - like " bed of stone , known asstrata . The strata on the larger , main lobe were fairly all-inclusive , about 650 meters ( 2,130 feet ) thick . We often see stratum on Earth as layers of sediment and , owing to Earth ’s gravity , the horizontal stratum are pile on top of each other – rise up vertically , vertical to the undercoat .
If the comet had always been a single consistence , then the strata on both lobes would be layer towards that single body ’s centre of solemnity , but this is not apparent . “ In 67P ’s case [ the stratum are ] perpendicular to gravity vectors calculated for separate objects , and they are not vertical to sombreness vectors count for a complete organic structure , ” Massironi distinguish IFLScience . “ This means that stratification constitute before the junction of the two lobes , ” meaning the two must have a freestanding origin .
The strata of the body ( the main lobe ) and the top dog ( the small-scale lobe ) also do not check across the neck opening , impart further evidence to the thought that the comet is work of two bodies . It ’s likely that those two body are of a middling similar parentage though , as the comet itself looks almost homogenous in its appearance . “ Even if they were make at different positions , they have gone through the same process of development , ” tell Massironi .
This would be the first - ever confirm “ link binary ” comet , which is essentially one object formed from two . The impact must have been of a low speed , as the comet was capable to keep on its structure , run conscientious objector - writer Björn Davidsson of Uppsala University in Sweden to suggest that it “ should have take form very betimes in the Solar System . ” Had the original two comets merged later , they would have had heavy velocity and belike would have destroyed each other in the impact .
Other possibility for the comet ’s formation had suggested its neck was eroded over sentence by the Sun , but Massironi is confident this theory is not correct . “ I am very confident , because we have two solid crinkle of grounds : the one relate to the inner social stratification which show that the promontory and the body have two distinct onion plant - like inner structures , and the one relate to gravity , proving that stratum formed before the adjunction of the two lobes , ” he said .
Using more data from the Rosetta spacecraft and Philae lander , it ’s hoped that more information on the comet ’s social stratification can be gleaned , to bestow further credence to what is now face a very plausible theory .
persona in schoolbook : The ranked geomorphology of the comet is seen in teh desktop . recognition : ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA .
