REAL LIFE NEWS QUESTION: HOW MUCH DOES A COMET MASS?
by Hazed
Answer: about 10 million tonnes*.
Rosetta, the European Space Agency’s probe which is orbiting around comet 67P, has made its first measurement of the body’s mass. It used the gravitation pull of the rock to figure it out, with an accuracy of plus or minus 10%.
The mission team is studying the readings and may be able to refine the mass value as Rosetta gets even closer to the comet.
Given the size of the comet (3.5 by 4 kilometres wide), this mass means it isn’t all that dense, which indicates it may have significant amounts of water it, as well as hollow areas.
* This is a European space mission so measurements are metric. A metric tonne is equal to 1.10 tons in US measurements.
Meanwhile, if you’re having problems visualising just how big Comet 67P is, here’s a graphic that might help: http://io9.com/now-you-can-truly-appreciate-the-size-of-comet-churymov-1623548762.
