Fwd: First Map of Rosetta's Comet

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 12, 2014 10:21:15 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: First Map of Rosetta's Comet

 

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First Map of Rosetta's Comet

 

 

This view of the "belly" and part of the "head" of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko indicates several morphologically different regions. Image credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
› Full image and caption

 

September 11, 2014

Scientists have found that the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko -- the target of study for the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission -- can be divided into several regions, each characterized by different classes of features. High-resolution images of the comet reveal a unique, multifaceted world.

ESA's Rosetta spacecraft arrived at its destination about a month ago and is currently accompanying the comet as it progresses on its route toward the inner solar system. Scientists have analyzed images of the comet's surface taken by OSIRIS, Rosetta's scientific imaging system, and defined several different regions, each of which has a distinctive physical appearance. This analysis provides the basis for a detailed scientific description of 67P's surface. A map showing the comet's various regions is available at:

http://go.nasa.gov/1pU26L2

"Never before have we seen a cometary surface in such detail," says OSIRIS Principal Investigator Holger Sierks from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Science (MPS) in Germany. In some of the images, one pixel corresponds to a scale of 30 inches (75 centimeters) on the nucleus. "It is a historic moment -- we have an unprecedented resolution to map a comet," he says.

The comet has areas dominated by cliffs, depressions, craters, boulders and even parallel grooves. While some of these areas appear to be quiet, others seem to be shaped by the comet's activity, in which grains emitted from below the surface fall back to the ground in the nearby area.

"This first map is, of course, only the beginning of our work," says Sierks. "At this point, nobody truly understands how the surface variations we are currently witnessing came to be."

As both comet 67P and Rosetta travel closer to the sun during the next few months, the OSIRIS team and other instruments on the payload will monitor the surface to look for changes. While scientists do not expect the borderlines they have identified for the comet's different regions to vary dramatically, even subtle transformations of the surface may help to explain how cometary activity created such a breathtaking world.

The new comet maps will offer valuable insights for members of the Rosetta team, who plan to gather in Toulouse, France, on September 13 and 14, to determine a primary and backup landing site from five candidates they previously had selected.

The scientific imaging system, OSIRIS, was built by a consortium led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany) in collaboration with Center of Studies and Activities for Space, University of Padua (Italy), the Astrophysical Laboratory of Marseille (France), the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, CSIC (Spain), the Scientific Support Office of the European Space Agency (Netherlands), the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (Spain), the Technical University of Madrid (Spain), the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Uppsala University (Sweden) and the Institute of Computer and Network Engineering of the TU Braunschweig (Germany). OSIRIS was financially supported by the national funding agencies of Germany (DLR), France (CNES), Italy (ASI), Spain, and Sweden and the ESA Technical Directorate.

Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI. Rosetta will be the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet, escort it as it orbits the sun, and deploy a lander to its surface.

For more information on the U.S. instruments aboard Rosetta, visit:

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

More information about Rosetta is available at:

http://www.esa.int/rosetta

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

2014-308 

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Rosetta Spacecraft Snaps Amazing Selfie with Comet Pal (Photo)

By Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer   |   September 11, 2014 12:12pm ET

 

Rosetta spacecraft used its Philae lander's CIVA camera to take a photo of the side of the lander and one of Rosetta's own solar wings. Comet 67P/C-G floats in the background. Image released Sept. 10, 2014. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA View full size image

It's official: A European spacecraft has snapped a robotic selfie with a comet in deep space.

The Philae lander riding with European Space Agency's comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft snapped a stunning photo of the spacecraft and its target comet, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The image — released by ESA on Wednesday (Sept. 10) — gives viewers a new perspective on the spacecraft and comet flying far from Earth.

The black-and-white photo taken Sept. 7 shows one of Rosetta's solar wings from Philae's perspective with Comet 67P/C-G flying 31 miles (50 kilometers) away. Both the comet's smaller "head" and "body" are clearly visible in the new photograph. [See more incredible photos taken by the Rosetta mission]

"Two images with different exposure times were combined to bring out the faint details in this very high contrast situation," ESA officials wrote in a blog describing the photograph. "The image was taken as part of the preparations being made for Philae, as the lander team gear up for the first ever attempt to land on a comet."

The Philae lander is expected to touch down on the comet's surface in November, and until then, it is flying with Rosetta near Comet 67P/C-G. ESA officials are planning to announce the probe's primary landing site in an event on Sept. 15.

Philae's CIVA instrument (short for Comet Infrared and Visible Analyzer) captured the image. CIVA is one of 10 instruments flying aboard Philae, according to ESA. Rosetta is carrying 11 scientific instruments (not including Philae's experiments).

Scientists hope that Rosetta and Philae will be able to help them learn more about the mechanics of comets — bits of rock and dust leftover from the beginning of the solar system.

Rosetta launched on its decade-long journey to the comet in 2004. It arrived at the comet in August, and since then, the probe has been beaming back amazing images of its target. Comet 67P/C-G takes 6.5 Earth years to orbit the sun. Rosetta will fly with the comet on its way toward its closest approach to the star, allowing the probe the unprecedented ability to see how the comet changes as it warms up while flying closer to the sun.

The mission's name comes from the Rosetta Stone — a famous block of rock found with text inscribed in three languages on its face. Philae is named for an obelisk found on an island in the Nile River. The two artifacts helped researchers translate Egyptian hieroglyphics.

 

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