Interactive, 3D model of Rosetta's comet: A perihelion present?

Scientists have released a brand-new, interactive model of Comet 67P, generated from Rosetta orbiter data, on the day of their closest approach to the sun.

|
Navcam/Rosetta/ESA/AP
A plume of gas erupts from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as seen in this July 20, 2015 photo, released by the European Space Agency on July 28. The photo was taken by the NAVCAM camera of the Rosetta orbiter from a distance of 106 miles from the comet center.

People can now see the Rosetta comet through a new, vivid lens.

Scientists released an interactive visual representation of Rosetta’s comet Thursday, which models how the surface of the comet changes as it rotates, the European Science Agency says.

The tool, which includes a texture map, will allow users to rotate and pan across the comet, the ESA said in a blog post.

The new shape model can help them with “calibrating data, studying changes on the surface, and for investigating the geology and morphology of the comet,” wrote ESA scientists. 

On Thursday, the comet is making its closest approach to the sun, a phenomenon called "perihelion," before swinging back out towards Jupiter. Rosetta's comet, known as 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, takes this loop through the solar system every 6.5 years. On August 13, it will be "only" 115 million miles from the sun, but in three years, when it reaches "aphelion" just beyond Jupiter's orbit, it will be over 500 million miles away, and will be colder, darker, and much less active than it is now.

The weeks surrounding perihelion are especially important for scientists.

The Washington Post reports:

The comet's levels of activity (melting and spewing gas, for example) have been going up steadily, and this time will give scientists access to crucial data that might otherwise have stayed locked away in ice. In fact, the highest activity levels aren’t expected to happen on perihelion, exactly. Proximity to the sun will warm the comet up more over time, so it's hard to say when the comet will have its peak day of spewing gas and vapor.

The last few weeks have seen a dramatic increase in the comet's activity.

“On July 29, Rosetta observed the most dramatic outburst yet,” the ESA wrote in a blog post. A plume of gas erupted from the nucleus, changing the shape and composition of the gaseous coma surrounding Rosetta.

The files for the new shape model, which was generated from NAVCAM images obtained during the close orbit phase in September and October last year, are available to the public and can be downloaded from the ESA here.

Data gathered by the orbiting spacecraft Rosetta and the struggling comet lander Philae will help scientists understand how comets form and evolve over time, which could ultimately provide new insights into how the entire solar system formed.

Follow CSMonitor's board Astronomy on Pinterest.
You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Interactive, 3D model of Rosetta's comet: A perihelion present?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0813/Interactive-3D-model-of-Rosetta-s-comet-A-perihelion-present
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe