RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Oxygen on comet: Rosetta's discovery could redefine how we understand solar system Fri Oct 30, 2015 2:44 am | |
| Scientists from the Rosetta mission have found oxygen in the atmosphere of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — a discovery that could change our understanding of how the solar system formed.
The molecular oxygen (O2) was detected by the ROSINA mass spectrometer, one of a suite of instruments aboard the Rosetta spacecraft that has been travelling with the comet since August 2014.
All the models say it shouldn't be there and it shouldn't survive for such a long time. Andre Bieler
The revelation came as quite a shock.
"The first time we saw it, we all went a little bit into denial because molecular oxygen was really not expected to be found on a comet," said Kathrin Altwegg of the University of Bern, Switzerland, the project leader for ROSINA, the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/oxygen-on-comet-rosettas-discovery-could-redefine-how-we-understand-solar-system-20151028-gkld2i.html#ixzz3q1zaNdO4 |
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