Comets are born of fire and ice
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4801968.stm
Comets are born of fire as well as ice, the first results from the US space agency's (Nasa) Stardust mission show.
In January, Stardust's sample-return capsule landed in Utah, carrying over a million tiny comet grains inside.
Some of these grains contain material that formed at extremely high temperatures, scientists have found.
This is a surprise. Comets formed in the cold, outer-reaches of the early Solar System, and were never exposed to such extreme heating.
The Sun and the planets began forming out of a gaseous cloud called the solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago.
This "accretion disc" consisted of a hot inner region and a cold outer region where ice was able to survive.
Comets are born of fire as well as ice, the first results from the US space agency's (Nasa) Stardust mission show.
In January, Stardust's sample-return capsule landed in Utah, carrying over a million tiny comet grains inside.
Some of these grains contain material that formed at extremely high temperatures, scientists have found.
This is a surprise. Comets formed in the cold, outer-reaches of the early Solar System, and were never exposed to such extreme heating.
The Sun and the planets began forming out of a gaseous cloud called the solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago.
This "accretion disc" consisted of a hot inner region and a cold outer region where ice was able to survive.
posted by RussInSoCal at 10:23 PM
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