A year after Rosetta wasintentionally crashedon Comet 67P / Churyumov - Gerasimenko , scientist continue to discover new skill in the data from the European Space Agency ’s spacecraft .
The late result , announced at the AVS 64th International Symposium and Exhibition , concenter on the detailed analysis of the comet ’s atmosphere also known as its comatoseness . Researchers used Rosetta ’s advanced on - control board mass - mass spectrometer to do work out the unlike constituent and where they assembled . The internal-combustion engine appears to have organize long before the Sun begin to shine .
“ What we found is awe-inspiring : Cometary methamphetamine is mostly elder than the solar system , having survived its formation as ice , ” Professor Kathrin Altwegg , from the University of Bern , said in astatement . “ This means the abundant organics found in the cometary comatoseness are also probably old and therefore as such ‘ cosmopolitan ’ – not specific to the solar system . If comet kick in to the emergence of sprightliness on our Earth , standardised process could have materialize or could encounter elsewhere in the universe . ”
lately , atheoretical studysuggested that the constituent material in comets could be formed in the so - call diffuse interstellar bands ( DIBs ) , region of organic material across the maven . These young results fortify this idea , although they are not the final word on the nature of comet . The research worker blame the unfortunate accident of Rosetta ’s lander Philae for the lack of constraints . Upon landing , Philaebounced unexpectedly and ended up where it could n’t use its solar panel to recharge itself .
“ We are missing the ground trueness , as , due to the hopping of the lander Philae , the two aggregate mass spectrometer on Philae could not measure in their nominal modes , ” Altwegg , who presented the results , tot .
empathize comet might also assist us understand the descent of life on Earth . comet are believed to be responsible for about 1 per centum of the water on our planet . So by understanding their composition , we can work out how much constituent textile they delivered . This is estimated using xenon , a noble gas .
“ By looking at xenon isotope we can also quantify how much organics they brought , ” Altwegg order . “ The unexpected richness of organic fertilizer feel in the cometic comatoseness together with the results from xenon tell us that comets could have played an of import office in sparking life on Earth . ”
A next landing military mission would strain these measurements to the surface and perchance below , giving us a better reason of where and when comets come from .
