(Astronomy)
Astronomy Article: Hubble finds two chaotically tumbling Pluto
moons
Reference and link to article: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/06/hubble-finds-two-chaotically-tumbling-pluto-moons
Astronomy terms used in article and explanations of connections
Dwarf planet: a small planet-like object which lacks some criteria to be considered a planet
Binary systems: A system of two stars
Rotation: The spinning motion about an axis
Dwarf planet: a small planet-like object which lacks some criteria to be considered a planet
Binary systems: A system of two stars
Rotation: The spinning motion about an axis
Summary and Opinion of Article
The article is about a study conducted using the Rosetta spacecraft which revealed that electrons are responsible for the rapid breakup of water and carbon dioxide from the surface of Comet 67/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The Alice spectrograph detects ultraviolet wavelengths and from this, scientists are able to deduce the chemical composition of the coma. ESA’s Rosetta mission reached the comet last year in August; regarding this study, the team focused on the nature of plumes of water and carbon dioxide gas erupting from the surface of the comet. These eruptions are triggered by photons emitted from the sun. These plumes are caused by the degradation of the molecules into their constituents close to the comet’s nucleus as illustrated in the diagram below.
This study is rather important as it demonstrates the importance of going to comets to observe them close-up. In this case, observing the comet closely allowed scientists to deduce that they were directly observing the parent molecules being broken up by electron in a 1 km vicinity by analysis of the relative intensities of observed atomic emissions. However, without close-up observation such as this, scientists would only be able to see the atomic constituents after their parent molecules have been broken by sunlight, hundreds to thousands of miles away from the nucleus of the comet.
The Alice spectrograph detects ultraviolet wavelengths and from this, scientists are able to deduce the chemical composition of the coma. ESA’s Rosetta mission reached the comet last year in August; regarding this study, the team focused on the nature of plumes of water and carbon dioxide gas erupting from the surface of the comet. These eruptions are triggered by photons emitted from the sun. These plumes are caused by the degradation of the molecules into their constituents close to the comet’s nucleus as illustrated in the diagram below.
This study is rather important as it demonstrates the importance of going to comets to observe them close-up. In this case, observing the comet closely allowed scientists to deduce that they were directly observing the parent molecules being broken up by electron in a 1 km vicinity by analysis of the relative intensities of observed atomic emissions. However, without close-up observation such as this, scientists would only be able to see the atomic constituents after their parent molecules have been broken by sunlight, hundreds to thousands of miles away from the nucleus of the comet.