Rosetta Witnesses Comet Tail Formation As It Follows Comet 67P
European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has captured ringside views of how comets produce their spectacular tail.
The spacecraft has been tailing Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the latter's orbit around the sun for a year now. On Thursday, Rosetta captured a burst of dust and vapor blasted off from the comet as it made its closest approach to the sun in orbit, The Guardian reports.
Experts said that the comet is giving off large amount of water in form of vapor as the ice in the comet's core melts away. 67 P is said to be spewing around 300 kg of water vapor and 1,000 kg of dust every second as it makes its closest pass across the sun. Rosetta captured images from a distance of 330 km away from the comet.
"Activity will remain high like this for many weeks, and we're certainly looking forward to seeing how many more jets and outburst events we catch in the act, as we have already witnessed in the last few weeks," said Nicolas Altobelli, acting Rosetta project scientist.
The Guardian further reports that the change in the comet's status means trouble for the lander Philae, which is sitting on it. The lander has not communicated with Earth yet but ESA scientists hope 67P's closeness to the sun will charge the lander's batteries.
