ESA - Rosetta Mission patch.
October 24, 2014
Rotten egg smell, stable, smell of alcohol ... The comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko really do not feel good, if you believe the "nose" of the European probe Rosetta.
Among its instruments, Rosetta has indeed a spectrometer, "Rosina". This instrument, developed at the University of Bern, is able to study the composition of the comet's coma, consisting of gas ejected from the nucleus under the influence of solar radiation dust.
Image above: Two jets shoot vaporized ice and dust from the nucleus of the comet. The bright nucleus had to be overexposed to capture the much fainter jets. Image Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA.
Although the comet is still more than 400 million kilometers from the Sun, the instrument has been able to recognize a range of molecules. First, it detects water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and methanol.
She then found formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide and carbon disulfide, announced the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Bern.
Graphic above: High resolution mass spectrum from ROSINA's Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS), taken on 10 October at a distance of 10 km from the comet centre. The plot shows the detection of hydrogen sulphide and the heavier isotope of sulphur, 34S, which is a fragment of all sulphur bearing species. The plot shows intensity vs. the mass-to-charge ratio*. Image courtesy K. Altwegg, University of Bern.
"Extremely interesting" mix
"The scent of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko is rather strong, with an odor of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide), stable (ammonia) and the pungent smell of formaldehyde suffocating" describes Kathrin Altwegg, main responsible for instrument Rosina. "All this mixed with the aroma of bitter almonds hydrogen cyanide."
"Add a whiff of alcohol (methanol) to this mixture associated with vinegary aroma of sulfur dioxide, and a hint of sweet and aromatic scent of carbon disulfide, and you get to 'perfume' your comet" Kathrin Altwegg says.
Image above: A composite photo of comet 67P/C-G showing gases escaping from the 'neck'. Image Credit: Emily Lakdawalla/ESA.
Beyond the anecdotal, "all this is a very interesting mix of a scientific point of view to study the origin of the materials in our solar system, the formation of the Earth and the origin of life" she says.
Rosetta must accompany the comet at least until it passes closest to the Sun in August 2015 On 12 November, ESA will attempt to land on a comet nucleus robot lab, Philae, a first in the history of space exploration.
For more information about Rosetta missio, visit: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta
Images & Graphic (mentioned), Text, Credits: ESA / ATS / Translation: Orbiter.ch Aerospace.
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