Rosetta records the appearance of a new jet on Comet 67P/C-G
Cool image time! Images taken two minutes apart by Rosetta have captured the emergence of a new jet on Comet 67P/C-G.
The two images released today show the remarkable onset of such a jet for the first time. They were taken on 12 March from a distance of 75 kilometres. In the first image, obtained at 07:13 CET, several rays of dust jets frame the upper, illuminated side of the comet. The dark underside shows no such features. Two minutes later, the picture has changed: a spectacular new jet has emerged on the dark side, hurtling dust into space and displaying a clearly discernable fine structure.
This was the first jet observed in a shadowed area, and the scientists think this jet might have started because it was just before dawn there.
Cool image time! Images taken two minutes apart by Rosetta have captured the emergence of a new jet on Comet 67P/C-G.
The two images released today show the remarkable onset of such a jet for the first time. They were taken on 12 March from a distance of 75 kilometres. In the first image, obtained at 07:13 CET, several rays of dust jets frame the upper, illuminated side of the comet. The dark underside shows no such features. Two minutes later, the picture has changed: a spectacular new jet has emerged on the dark side, hurtling dust into space and displaying a clearly discernable fine structure.
This was the first jet observed in a shadowed area, and the scientists think this jet might have started because it was just before dawn there.