Clathrate ices identified in comet 67P
Friday, April 8, 2016 - 18:12
in Astronomy & Space
For decades, scientists have agreed that comets are mostly water ice, but what kind of ice -- amorphous or crystalline -- is still up for debate. Looking at data obtained by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft in the atmosphere, or coma, around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, scientists are seeing evidence of a crystalline form of ice called clathrates.