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COMET 67P is basically TRAILING a HORRIFIC STENCH through space

Rotten eggs, horse dung - and almonds. Phe-yew

The Rosetta probe that is orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is mainly preoccupied with firming up its plans for landing on the surface: however, there's still science to be done – and boffins have been taking a sniff at how the space snowball smells.

For the last two months, the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) has been inhaling the comet's tail as the probe has approached orbital position. While humans can't smell anything in space, due to the near vacuum, the sensor's chemical analysis shows that if we could sniff the comet, the odour would be pungent.

ROSINA's twin spectrometers detected hydrogen sulphide, commonly associated with rotting eggs, as well as whiffy ammonia and formaldehyde. There are also tiny amounts of hydrogen cyanide, which has a bitter, almond-like aroma, as well as sulphur dioxide and carbon disulphide.

All of these chemicals are in trace amounts – the vast majority of the material boiling off Churyumov–Gerasimenko is water and carbon dioxide. But scientists are intrigued by the mix of stuff coming off the comet.

"This all makes a scientifically enormously interesting mixture in order to study the origin of our solar system material, the formation of our Earth and the origin of life," said [PDF] Kathrin Altwegg from the Center of Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern. "Even though its perfume may not be Chanel No 5."

As the comet makes its closest approach to the Sun in August 2015 more and more chemicals will be shed as the material heats up. The Bern team will be keeping a close eye on the data from ROSINA to see what else is shed by the comet and what it can tell us about the fundamental building blocks of the universe. ®

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