Hubble records comet’s spin flip as jets reverse its rotation
TL;DR Summary
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope tracked comet 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák and observed its rotation reverse due to jets of gas and dust, with the spin slowing between 2017 observations and then flipping to a much faster rate (about 14 hours) by December 2017. Scientist David Jewitt explains that uneven jets act like tiny thrusters, reversing the comet’s spin, an unprecedented finding that may signal structural changes or breakup; the results were published in The Astronomical Journal.
- Hitting the brakes: Hubble Space Telescope watches doomed comet reverse its spin Space
- NASA’s Hubble Detects First-Ever Spin Reversal of Tiny Comet NASA Science (.gov)
- For First Time, A Tiny Comet Has Been Caught In The Act Reversing The Direction Of Its Spin IFLScience
- Hubble Space Telescope: Comet spin reversal observed for the first time heise online
Reading Insights
Total Reads
1
Unique Readers
2
Time Saved
74 min
vs 75 min read
Condensed
100%
14,949 → 73 words
Want the full story? Read the original article
Read on Space