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The Role Of Molecular Oxygen In Comets

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Molecular oxygen has been found in the cloud of gas around a comet in apparent contradiction with theories of how our solar system was formed. The detection of molecular oxygen on a comet is 'the most surprising discovery so far' made by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, according to scientists.

This single frame Rosetta navigation camera image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on 7 July 2015 from a distance of 154 km from the comet centre. The image has a resolution of 13.1 m/pixel and measures 13.4 km across. Courtesy: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in an image captured by Rosetta. Courtesy: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
This Does Not Fit With Current Theories

Rosetta has been in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko since August 2014. It detected the presence of molecular oxygen in the cloud surrounding the comet's nucleus, known as the coma, using an on board mass spectrometer which can analyze the composition of gases. …show more content…

Dr Andre Bieler of the University of Michigan, another scientist working on this research, said 'it will need a significant amount of work' to make this finding fit in with models of how the solar system evolved. The discovery is reported by Altwegg, Bieler and colleagues in the scientific journal Nature today (Wednesday 28 October

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