“This is the most surprising discovery made up now around the comet “67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, escorted by fifteen months Rosetta, said Kathrin Altwegg, University of Bern (Switzerland), one of the study authors.
C is the first time found the oxygen – more commonly known as molecular oxygen. – in a comet, even though it has been detected in other icy celestial bodies such as moons of Jupiter or Saturn
” He will perhaps have to change our current models on the formation of the solar system because at the moment they do not provide for the presence of molecular oxygen in a comet, “said AFP Andre Bieler, University of Michigan (USA), co-author of the study. Kathrin Altwegg agrees.
Molecular oxygen is very difficult to observe from a distance, for example from Earth.
Rosina spectrometer, one of the key instruments of the Rosetta mission, achieved measurements of gas between September 2014 and March 2015 while the 67P comet approached the sun.
Rosina found an average of almost 4% of molecular oxygen (relative to water vapor H2O) in the cloud which forms the tail of the comet, the study found. This percentage rose to 10% at times.
“It’s really much!” Exclaims Andre Bieler. This makes the fourth oxygen gas of the comet, in importance, after water vapor (H2O), carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
“We believe that this oxygen is essential + +, that is to say, it predates our solar system, “notes the researcher
-. ‘Do not pull too fast conclusions’ –
The surprise scientists is that oxygen is highly reactive chemically and it easily turns. In order to be able to survive in the state, “he had to be incorporated into the comet gently,” says the researcher. He has been imprisoned in ice grains.
“If oxygen has not changed despite the formation of the solar system is that it is not heated,” said AFP Francis Rocard astrophysicist, program manager Rosetta CNES, the French space agency.
The discovery of Rosina “brings a strong constraint on the solar system formation mechanism”, particularly with regard to temperatures, recognizes Mr Rocard. “But do not shoot too fast conclusions,” he added.
The presence of oxygen on “Tchouri” and perhaps on other comets have “no direct implications the appearance of life on Earth “, was keen to stress Kathrin Altwegg during a press briefing organized by Nature.
” Tchouri “which reached its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) to In mid-August, is now moving away from it.
Rosetta is 270 million kilometers from Earth. Equipped with a dozen instruments continues to work and gather a lot of data.
But the little robot-laboratory Philae on the comet installed since mid-November 2014, is silent for three months. And the breath of fresh air on the comet can do nothing for him …
The goal of the Rosetta mission is to better understand the evolution of the solar system since birth, comets are considered remnants of the primitive matter.
Rosetta’s adventure, traveling for more than eleven years in space, scheduled for completion in September 2016. To date, ESA has planned to make her “ask” the least roughly Tchouri possible where it will find Philae which will then be asleep long
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