Don’t miss MiARD researcher Nicholas Attree from the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille on the astrotweeps Twitter channel this week:
Background info on astrotweep here
Nick works in the MiARD project on determining the physical and mechanical properties of comet 67P. In particular, he uses OSIRIS camera images from the Rosetta mission to analyse surface features, such as overhanging cliffs and fractures, to estimate the mechanical strength of the nucleus material. He also uses navigational and position data to measure the effects of outgassing on the comet’s orbit (an example of ‘non-gravitational forces’ affecting the comet’s orbit). The MiARD project seeks to develop a better model for ‘non-gravitational forces’ in order to be able to make better predictions of comets’ trajectories in future.
