JAKARTA – A comet that is claimed to be similar to a rubber duck made its closest approach to Earth last weekend, and has now drifted away and will not return to the planet for another 200 years.
The comet, named Comet 67P or Churyumov-Gerasimenko, came 62.8 million kilometers close to Earth, but closer than Mars.
Scientists predict the comet will return in the year 2214. According to EarthSky, the comet can now be found near Pollux, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini.
The comet first rose to prominence in 2014, when the Rosetta spacecraft approached during a 10-year chase. At the time, the scientists involved called it the sexiest, most fantastical mission ever.
Rosetta orbits the comet for nearly three years, making measurements of the comet’s surface and surroundings. He landed a smaller craft, called Philae, on the comet to gather information about its chemical composition.
Unfortunately, this mission did not all go well. Philae bounced twice, first stopping in an area the scientists didn’t choose. This was due to the failure of the two harpoons on the lander that did not hit the comet.
“This 4.5-billion-year-old comet is as soft as foam on your cappuccino, as soft as sea foam on a beach, softer than the softest snow after a blizzard,” said study author Laurence O’Rourke. The Independent, Tuesday, November 16th.
“You can’t just hit it with an object and expect it to move or break – that would be like punching a cloud.”
Even at the second location, Philae was at the bottom of a cliff where solar panels could not get energy for the Sun, depleting its reserves after two days, until it woke briefly in June 2015 when the comet’s angle with respect to the Sun changed.
At the end of its mission, the Rosetta orbiter made an emergency landing on the comet’s surface, taking more photos and measurements up close, providing scientists with a wealth of data.
However, the amount of data collected from the mission makes Comet 67P the most studied comet. This helps scientists discover that these celestial bodies have their own aurorae, as well as understand more about Earth’s own history.
It is possible that Earth was a dry planet with water and organic matter being seeded here by passing comets, which would make the composition of water in comets the same as on Earth.
– .
