Space
Philae's Comet May Support Alien Life, Rosetta Mission Reveals
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Jul 06, 2015 10:29 AM EDT
Could there be evidence of alien life on comets? Scientists have taken a closer look at the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and have found that it might be possible that micro-organisms could explain the unusual features seen on this particular comet.
The Rosetta spacecraft has been studying the comet ever since September 2014. In fact, Rosetta even launched Philae, a lander, to explore the comet more in depth.
So far, the Rosetta data has revealed that the comet is irregularly "duck-shaped" and is about 4.3 by 4.1 km in extent. It appears to have a black crust and underlying ice. In addition, images reveal that there are large, smooth "seas,' flat-bottomed craters and a surface peppered with mega-boulders. The crater lakes are re-frozen bodies of water overlain with organic debris. Parallel furrows relate to the flexing of the asymmetric and spinning double-lobed body, which generates fractures in the ice beneath.
So what do these features mean? In this case, researchers argue that the specific features are consistent with a mixture of ice and organic material that consolidate under the sun's warming during the comet's orbiting in space, when active micro-organisms can be supported.
In the model, the micro-organisms probably require liquid water bodies to colonize the comet. Likely, the organisms inhabit cracks in the ice and "snow" on the comet; it's possible that the organisms contain anti-freeze salts that allow them to be active at temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius.
"Rosetta has already shown that the comet is not to be seen as a deep-frozen inactive body, but supports geological processes and could be more hospitable to micro-life than our Arctic and Antarctic regions," said Max Wallis, one of the researchers, in a news release.
With that said, this is only a theory. More research needs to be conducted on the comet before any firm conclusions can be made.
The findings were presented at the National Astronomy Meeting in Wales.
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First Posted: Jul 06, 2015 10:29 AM EDT
Could there be evidence of alien life on comets? Scientists have taken a closer look at the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and have found that it might be possible that micro-organisms could explain the unusual features seen on this particular comet.
The Rosetta spacecraft has been studying the comet ever since September 2014. In fact, Rosetta even launched Philae, a lander, to explore the comet more in depth.
So far, the Rosetta data has revealed that the comet is irregularly "duck-shaped" and is about 4.3 by 4.1 km in extent. It appears to have a black crust and underlying ice. In addition, images reveal that there are large, smooth "seas,' flat-bottomed craters and a surface peppered with mega-boulders. The crater lakes are re-frozen bodies of water overlain with organic debris. Parallel furrows relate to the flexing of the asymmetric and spinning double-lobed body, which generates fractures in the ice beneath.
So what do these features mean? In this case, researchers argue that the specific features are consistent with a mixture of ice and organic material that consolidate under the sun's warming during the comet's orbiting in space, when active micro-organisms can be supported.
In the model, the micro-organisms probably require liquid water bodies to colonize the comet. Likely, the organisms inhabit cracks in the ice and "snow" on the comet; it's possible that the organisms contain anti-freeze salts that allow them to be active at temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius.
"Rosetta has already shown that the comet is not to be seen as a deep-frozen inactive body, but supports geological processes and could be more hospitable to micro-life than our Arctic and Antarctic regions," said Max Wallis, one of the researchers, in a news release.
With that said, this is only a theory. More research needs to be conducted on the comet before any firm conclusions can be made.
The findings were presented at the National Astronomy Meeting in Wales.
Related Stories
Birth of a Giant Planet Witnessed with the Very Large Telescope
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone