The first in the history of mankind drilling comet was not so successful: after passing the fluffy surface of the comet, drill stumbled upon something solid and broken. But even this – the most important discovery, say scientists who have decided to tell you more about the data that the probe “Fila” the last effort – Charge the battery – passed on Earth.
While various media speculated on that the probe “Fila” allegedly made contact, their colleagues and did spread the “unique” information received from the comet Churyumov – Gerasimenko data. This has forced scientists to tell a little, what they actually managed to learn. Thus, it remains unknown researcher issued a twitter tool MUPUS a few dozen tweets devoted to data from the probe “Fila” pre-specified that he writes them from a German train, and added that it is not “leak” and actions agreed with the Head of the experiment and with the entire research group. It is likely that subsequent information will appear in the very meager amount in advance of the articles that are sure to follow in such popular journals as Science and Nature.
«Fila” in the ashes of a cigar
“The team worked well. We see before us the cold vertical wall “- in the first place write researchers.
They managed to get to the comet Churyumov – Gerasimenko clear temperature signal that has been processed.
So, for local researchers recorded the day abrupt warming of this “wall”, and when direct sunlight ceased, – Quenching .
This fixed the daily wave heating is not only a tool, but and harpoons under “Filami” as well as solar panels.
In addition, scientists say , the comet has low thermal conductivity and “fluffy” surface structure.
«Answering questions about the fluffy structure: forced to speculate. Rather, it is the tiny grains of minerals and organic matter, resembling a cigar ashes », – write are.
Finally, the researchers told , which heating time coincides with the time recharging solar panels. In addition, they are specified , that the penetrator, which is not included since 2002, worked in the normal mode.
Something hard under fluffiness
When removing penetrator scientists fixed , that he is seriously cool. They attribute this to the fact that the tool is something to attach. In addition, through instruments Failed to change position of the probe “Fila” relative to the surface of the comet.
In general, the first in the history of mankind drilling comet was not as successful as it seemed at night.
«Drilling began at the weakest of three available modes, because we expected that the comet’s surface is soft and fluffy », – write researchers. According to them , it did not work out and the auger switch to the second power mode. When this attempt failed, the scientists had to include the most powerful mode. And then try again failed!
«Here we had to include « secret mode, “which we call mad.
A truly brilliant developer tool, Jerzy Grigorschuk, always told to be careful with this regime. And … Seven minutes of work and drill broke. Jerzy was right. And we were in despair – taut and punished, “- the researchers reported.
Thus, the drilling of the comet was not held and reliably learn that the same inside her, not seem possible.
«Loss of data under the surface – it’s sad. Detection of very solid crust – it’s a great discovery that orbiter could do, “- noted the scientists.
According to them, the strength of the surface on which rested the drill, was more than 2 megapascals (MPa). As a comparison, researchers have led indicators sandstone (5 to 15 MPa) and granite (from 5 to 20 MPa). Perhaps because of the solid crust probe “Fila” and could not be fixed on the shaft, although, according to scientists, were designed to work with a solid surface (8-10 MPa strength).
«We want to clarify: MUPUS did everything perfectly. This comet was unfriendly, “- wrote the researchers.
The old theory against observation
Of course, the results have yet to be processed, interpret, discuss and publish in scientific articles. From these data, it appears that the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a loose or, as scientists say, fluffy surface, and under it a hard crust. Perhaps this ice. Perhaps this stone structure. And, perhaps, this cake contains ice and rocks that completely blends with modern ideas of scientists that the nucleus of a comet is a “dirty snowball».
However, possible that the probe “Fila” found even more interesting things.
Researchers have suggested that it is quite strange for a comet – have such a hard surface at such a low gravity. One possible explanation is that the probe was in an impact crater and came across more dense than the surface of the comet, the remains of the body, causing the crater.
Klim Churyumov: 34 years before the “Rosetta»
In anticipation of the subsequent news from the scientists involved in the processing of the results obtained with the “Rosetta” quote at the end of this material Klim Churyumov book “Comets and their observations,” published in 1980 in the Moscow publishing house “Science”. This passage is devoted to the structure of the comet’s nucleus, and it talks about all the things that he saw the probe “Fila”: pro and easily volatile substances that can give fluffy, and about the stone structures, and even about the hard crust.
The “core – the most important part of the comet. However, there is still no consensus that it is in fact, wrote Churyumov in 1980. – Even during the Bessel and Laplace existed idea of a comet nucleus as a solid consisting of volatile substances such as ice or snow, quickly turning into the gas phase under the action of the sun’s heat. This classical model of icy cometary nucleus has been substantially supplemented and developed in recent years.
highest recognition among researchers comets enjoys Whipple developed a model of the nucleus – a conglomerate of refractory rocky particles and volatile components of frozen (CH4, CO2, H2O, etc.).
In this nucleus of ice layers of frozen gases are alternated with layers of dust. As the warmth of the sun warming gases such Corrected “dry ice” breaks out, dragging the dust cloud. This allows, for example, to explain the formation of gas and dust tails of comets, and the ability of small nuclei of comets to the active gassing ».
Next Churyumov tells Us that meteor swarms with short-period comets suggests a rocky core, having a gas inclusions in the form of adsorbed gases.
«Such a model in the 40s developed the Soviet astrophysicist B.Yu.Levin, consider the mechanism of formation of an extended atmosphere by gas desorption from the surface of the nucleus. Swings and Delzemm in 1952 went the way of the development model of the nucleus-conglomerate, the proposed American astrophysicist Fred Whipple, updated with the idea of the presence in the nucleus of “parent molecules” is not in the form of pure ice, and frozen in the form of hydrates having the composition M • n • H2O, where M – parent molecule, n • H2O – number of water molecules necessary for the formation of a stable molecule, and this includes the parent molecule. Hydrates also evaporate at the same rate as that of water ice ».
According to Whipple, the mechanism of ejection of matter from the nucleus is explained as follows.
Comets who committed a small number of passes through its perihelion – the so-called “young” comets – surface protective crust had not yet formed, and the surface of the core is covered with relict ice. Gas evolution proceeds extremely rapidly by direct evaporation from the solid phase.
In the spectrum of this comet dominates the reflected sunlight, which allows to distinguish between spectral and “young” comets from the “old».
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