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Credit & Copyright: ESA / Rosetta / MPS
OSIRIS Team
Explanation:
The Rosetta spacecraft captured
this remarkable series
of 9 frames
between March 27 and May 4, as it closed from 5 million to
2 million kilometers of its target comet.
Cruising along a 6.5 year orbit toward closest approach
to the Sun next year, periodic comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
is seen moving past a distant background of
stars in Sagittarius and gobular star cluster M104.
The comet's developing coma
is actually visible by the end of the sequence, extending
for some 1300 km into space.
Rosetta is scheduled for an early August rendezvous with
the comet's nucleus.
Now clearly active,
the nucleus
is about 4 kilometers in diameter,
releasing the dusty coma as its dirty ices begin to
sublimate in the sunlight.
The Rosetta lander's
contact with the surface of the nucleus is anticipated in November.
Meteor Shower Hunt Tonight:
Looking for the
Camelopardalids
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet
Publications with words: comet
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 16 Á A Kilometer High Cliff on Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
- APOD: 2024 November 27 Á The Meteor and the Comet
- APOD: 2024 November 11 Á The Unusual Tails of Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas
- APOD: 2024 November 6 Á Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas over the Dolomites
- APOD: 2024 October 21 Á Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS over California
- Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Flys Away
- Most of Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS