How #Rosetta’s #comet got its shape
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/09/28/how-rosettas-comet-got-its-shape
This news item is mirrored from the main ESA Web Portal. Two #Comets collided at low speed in the early Solar System to give rise to the distinctive ‘rubber duck’ shape of #Comet_67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, say #rosetta scientists. The origin of the comet’s double-lobed form has been a key question since Rosetta first revealed its surprising shape in July 2014. Two leading ideas emerged: did two comets merge or did localised erosion of a single object form the ‘neck’? Now, scientists have an unambiguous answer to the conundrum. By using high-resolution #Images taken between 6 August 2014 and 17 March 2015 to study the layers of material seen all over the nucleus, they have shown that the shape arose from a low-speed collision between two fully fledged, separately formed comets. “It is clear from (...)