Skip to content

Comment on Welcome to a cometparent

Comments

Does the comet have enough gravity to hold on to dust?

Yes. Philae's weight on the comet is roughly equivalent to a few ounces/100g* on Earth. It's why there's so much concern about it not being anchored correctly; deploy the wrong instrument and you might push it away from the surface and out into space. So there is a significant gravitational attraction from the comet, just not very much!

* I've seen a few different estimates for this, but it's of this order.

I've seen a few different estimates for this

Considering the comet's irregular shape, it probably depends a lot on exactly where the lander is.

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.