Schematic Representation (IMAGE)

Royal Astronomical Society

Schematic Representation

Caption

This is a schematic representation of the porous surface structure of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Based on the results of the Rosetta mission, Blum and colleagues conclude that comet 67P is composed of millimetre-sized dust pebbles. It is assumed that the pebbles inside the comet consist of a mixture of dust and ice (light blue spheres in the image) and only the uppermost layers, which are exposed to direct sunlight, do not contain ice (dark grey spheres).

Credit

Maya Krause, TU Braunschweig.

Usage Restrictions

None

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.