Jets from Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
Explanation:
Where do comet tails come from?
Although it is common knowledge that
comet tails and comas originate from comet nuclei,
exactly how that happens is an
active
topic of research.
One of the best images yet of
emerging jets is shown in the
featured image, taken last November by the
robotic Rosetta spacecraft in orbit around the
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Comet CG), and released last month.
The
overexposed picture shows plumes of gas and dust escaping numerous places from
the
Comet CG's nucleus as it nears the Sun and heats up.
Although
Comet CG is currently further out from the
Sun than
Mars, its orbit will take it almost as close as the Earth
this coming August, at which time its
jet activity is expected to increase by a factor of about
100.
You've likely seen some debris from
comet
nuclei before but in another form -- when sand-sized bits end their journey through
the Solar System by impacting the atmosphere of Earth as
meteors.
Almost Hyperspace:
Random APOD Generator
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
