Comet mission Rosetta sent a head shock wave paving the way through the stellar wind. Scientists are only now able to detect this feature.
Astrophysicists have long been looking for evidence of the presence of a head shock wave from comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which the ESA Rosette space probe visited in 2016. In other comets, like Halley's comet, such formations are fixed in front of the object.
The head shock wave forms at the boundary between the comet's magnetic field, stellar wind, and other charged particles in space. However, the initial analysis did not reveal any data regarding the presence of a shock wave around the 67P. In a recent study, scientists reported that the comet 67P still had a head shock wave. It simply turned out to be too weak and asymmetrical, so it moved along an unexpected route, which was difficult to detect. Researchers in search of focused on the territory away from the comet's nucleus, but a careful analysis showed that the comet passed through the magnetoactive region for two periods. This was evidenced by electrons and protons that reacted to the boundary.
The first period fell at the moment when the comet approached the Sun, and the second when the object flew away from the star. When comet 67P approached the Sun, the head shock wave moved further beyond the limits of the orbit zone of the Rosette apparatus.
