Scientists have long considered 67P / Churyumov - Gerasimenko , or Chury for short , the comet hit the books by ESA ’s Rosetta , to be a relic of the early days of the Solar System . But researchers now think that its famous duck anatomy is actually much younger .

In a newspaper published inAstronomy & Astrophysics , Martin Jutzi and Willy Benz from the University of Bern , Switzerland , in collaboration with workfellow , created a simulation to work out the comet ’s chronicle , and the findings suggest that the bilobed shaped might have formed within the last 1 billion years .

“ It is improbable that a organic structure like Chury has survived for such a long time without damage – our computer simulation show this , ” said Jutzi in astatement .

The model is backed by other work that see at the pedigree of this comet . Researchers from the University of Padua , Italy , arguedlast yearthat Chury was indeed formed by two cometary nuclei that merge into one after a abject - velocity impact .

More recent field bespeak out that theformation of bilobed cometslike Chury might happen often . All the objects in the   Solar System have experienced collisions throughout the 4.5 billion yr of its history . 67P ’s duck’s egg shape is too frail to stand firm all those impacts .

“ We have notice that this structure can be destroyed easily , even with down in the mouth energy collisions , ” say Jutzi .

“ Chury ’s present pattern is the resultant role of the last major shock which likely occurred within the last billion years . ”

Jutzi and Benz also print another paper , also inAstronomy & Astrophysics , focalize on the theme of the comet . Comets are study because the material they are made of is unchanged since the establishment of the   Solar System .

The fact that their shape modification might be problematical , but the inquiry has shown that the impacts that have shaped Chury have been crushed energy enough to maintain its original opus .

" So far , it has been strike that comets are original edifice blocks – similar to Lego , " said Benz . " Our work shows that the Lego block no longer have their original form , but the charge card that they consist of is still the same as in the get-go . "