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New scientific reports are describing a surprising outburst of activity
from the comet 67P measured by instruments
on the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe in February of this year.
The activity -- recorded by the camera on the Rosetta probe --
began with a halo of dust around the comet started to mysteriously glow.
The comet's gases then rapidly rose in temperature by 30 degrees Celsius,
and the sunlight reflected off of 67P increased in brightness by 600%.
Within less than two hours, a cloud of particles blew off the comet nucleus and hit the probe.
Incredibly, the explanation that ESA investigators have offered is:
"We think the outburst must have been triggered by a landslide at the surface."
But what about the observed phenomena suggest a quote "landslide"?
The relatively minuscule comet nucleus is at near zero gravity environment.
Even if we accept the notion of a gravity driven process such as a landslide on the comet,
what about the sudden brightening glow of the halo of dust surrounding the comet
which actually preceded the dust raising event?
And how would a landslide immediately raise the temperatures of the comet gases
by 30 degrees Celsius?
And what of the simultaneous six-fold increase in the albedo of the jet-black comet nucleus?
This is not the first time that ESA scientists have suggested processes
more familiar to Earth geology than a comet.
After the completely unexpected discovery of sand dunes
and so-called wind streaks on the comet,
mission scientists proposed a process similar to saltation,
which would require both an atmosphere and turbulent winds acting on the comet.
But why do comet scientists continue to omit any consideration
of electrical processes in dust-raising events on comets?
The omission only grows more glaring with each passing year.
As discussed in Space News episode last month,
a NASA funded scientific study has confirmed
that electrostatic dust transportation occurs on airless bodies in space.
A Phys.org report on the study states that:
"...electrostatic processes may be responsible for the Rosetta detection
of fluffy dust particles released from the surface of Comet 67P."
However, even with this recognition, a more fundamental theoretical shift is required
for countless comet mysteries to finally be resolved.
The Standard Comet Theory remains that most comet activity,
including the production of the familiar coma and tail,
is the result of theoretical subsurface ices slowly sublimating from solar heating.
But dramatic outbursts of comets, sometimes at great distances from the Sun,
is just one of countless problems for this theory.
Such was the case with Comet Holmes/17P in 2007
when the comet suddenly brightened by a factor of 1 million,
apparently in response to a huge spike in the solar wind.
In the summer of 2011, the Comet Elenin dramatically flared up after being struck by a CME.
As science writer Ian Musgrave noted at the time:
"Shortly after the coronal mass ejection the comet flared up
and you could see some beautiful details in the tail
and the tail was twisting about in the solar wind."
In 1991, while in the distant realm between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus,
the Comet Halley suddenly flared up to 300 times its normal brightness.
But with a surface temperature of minus 200 degrees Celsius,
sublimation of ices could not have been the cause of the cometary activity.
However, was it a coincidence that the comet brightened in the wake of major solar outbursts?
In recent years, the connection between solar activity in comet outburst
has become a subject of growing scientific interest.
At the 2016 Thunderbolts conference, in Phoenix, Arizona,
Russian scientist Subhon Ibadov presented his thesis that cometary brightening
is sometimes directly caused by charged particles from the Sun.
This idea is consistent with the theory of electric comets
as proposed by the chief principles of The Thunderbolts Project.
In its time in the outer reaches of the solar system,
a comet develops a negative charge with respect to its environment
and can discharge like an over-stressed capacitor
when experiencing a sudden voltage spike.
Cometary outbursts can also occur due to any dramatic change
in the comet's plasma environment,
such as the comet passing within a planet's magnetotail.
Just as electrostatic dust storms and electrical discharges are observed
on our own Moon when it passes through the Earth's magnetotail.
Today, there is no valid reason why astronomers should not explore
electrical explanations for dramatic cometary activity.
Once the door opens to such theoretical possibilities,
previously unimagined paths of discovery will undoubtedly follow.
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