Oxygen found in Comet

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft made the first in situ detection of oxygen molecules outgassing from a comet, an unexpected observation that challenges current Solar System formation models.We weren’t really expecting to detect O2 at the comet – and in such high abundance – because it is so chemically reactive, so it was quite a surprise,” says Kathrin Altwegg of the University of Bern, and principal investigator of the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis instrument, ROSINA.

Read more: ESA News Release – 28 Oct 2015