#comet sinkholes generate jets
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/07/01/comet-sinkholes-generate-jets
This story is mirrored from the main ESA web portal and is based on a paper just published in the journal Nature. A number of the dust jets emerging from #Rosetta’s comet can be traced back to active pits that were likely formed by a sudden collapse of the surface. These ‘sinkholes’ are providing a glimpse at the chaotic and diverse interior of the comet. #rosetta has been monitoring #Comet_67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko’s activity for over a year, watching how its halo of dust and gas grows as the comet moves closer to the Sun along its orbit. From a distance of a few hundred kilometres, Rosetta observes an intricate pattern of the dust jets emitted from the nucleus as they stream out into space. But now, thanks to high-resolution #Images from the OSIRIS camera from distances of just 10–30 km from (...)