COBS News archive

CometWatch from Earth – 22 May
June 15, 2015
Astronomers using ESO’s ground-based Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile are watching the development of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s coma and tail from Earth. This image is based on data acquired on 22 May and is about 300 000 km wide at the distance of the comet.

CometWatch 5 June
June 15, 2015
Today’s CometWatch entry was taken on 5 June 2015, from a distance of 208 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image scale is 17.7 m/pixel and the image measures 18.1 km across.

CometWatch 1 June
June 11, 2015
Today’s CometWatch entry was taken on 1 June 2015, from a distance of 209 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image scale is 17.8 m/pixel and the image measures 18.2 km across.

Sunset jets
June 09, 2015
Activity on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko continues to rise, with new images from OSIRIS showing that some regions remain active even after nightfall. This report is provided by the OSIRIS team at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany.

CometWatch 23 May
June 08, 2015
Today's CometWatch entry was taken on 23 May, when Rosetta was 138.1 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The single frame NAVCAM image has resolution of 11.8 m/pixel and measures 12.1 km across.

CometWatch 21 May
June 08, 2015
This impressive view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was captured on 21 May from a distance of 156.8 km from the comet centre. It is a single frame image with a resolution of 13.4 m/pixel, and measures 13.7 km across. The intensities and contrast have been adjusted to emphasise the activity of the comet.

Crashing comets may explain mysterious lunar swirls
June 03, 2015
Brown University researchers have produced new evidence that lunar swirls -- wispy bright regions scattered on the Moon's surface -- were created by several comet collisions over the last 100 million years.

How comets were assembled
June 03, 2015
Rosetta's target 'Chury' and other comets observed by space missions show common evidence of layered structures and bi-lobed shapes. With 3D computer simulations Martin Jutzi, astrophysicist at the University of Bern, was able to reconstruct the formation of these features as a result of gentle collisions and mergers.

Ultraviolet study reveals surprises in comet coma
June 03, 2015
Rosetta’s continued close study of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has revealed an unexpected process at work, causing the rapid breakup of water and carbon dioxide molecules spewing from the comet’s surface.

CometWatch 20 May
June 03, 2015
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta's NAVCAM on 20 May at a distance of 163.6 km from the comet centre. It is a single frame image with a resolution of 13.9 m/pixel, and measures 14.3 km across. The intensities and contrast have been adjusted to emphasise the activity of the comet.

NAVCAM image bonanza: close orbits and comet landing
June 03, 2015
Today perhaps the most anticipated set of NAVCAM images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko have been released by the Rosetta Downlink & Archive Team via the Archive Image Browser and ESA’s Planetary Sciences Archive.

CometWatch closeup: Looming over Aten
May 25, 2015
With today's CometWatch we take another trip back in time, to 27 October 2014 when Rosetta was in a bound orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At the time this single frame NAVCAM image was taken, the spacecraft was only 9.8 km from the comet centre. Due to the viewing geometry, most of the scene is in fact closer to the camera in this view. The image scale is about 75 cm/pixel, and the image spans 770 m across.

Comet Wild 2: A window into the birth of the solar system?
May 20, 2015
Scientists have investigated the oxygen isotope and mineral composition of the comet dust returned from Wild 2. The team discovered an unexpected combination of material that has deepened the mystery of Wild 2's past.

CometWatch 12 May
May 20, 2015
Today’s CometWatch entry shows a curious view of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko that on first impression (see original image right) gives the illusion that the comet's head is missing. The image was taken by Rosetta’s NAVCAM on 12 May from a distance of 166 km from the centre of the comet. The scale is 14 m/pixel and the 1024 x 1024 pixel frame measures 14.5 km across.

OSIRIS spots boulders in balancing act
May 20, 2015
Scientists from Rosetta’s OSIRIS team have discovered an unusual formation of boulders in the Aker region on the large lobe of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At first glance they are reminiscent of so-called "balancing rocks" on Earth.

CometWatch closeup: Hathor, from Seth
May 20, 2015
Today’s CometWatch post delves back in time to October last year, when Rosetta was orbiting the comet at a distance of just 10 km.

CometWatch 3 May
May 14, 2015
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta's NAVCAM on 3 May at a distance of 135 km from the comet centre. It is a single frame image, with a resolution of 11.5 m/pixel, and measures 11.7 km across. The intensities and contrast have been tweaked to emphasise the ever increasing activity of the comet.

CometWatch 28 April
May 11, 2015
Today’s CometWatch entry is a single frame NAVCAM image obtained on 28 April, from a distance of 151 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At this distance, the resolution is 13 m/pixel; the image has been cropped to 11 km (the original frame, provided at the end of the post, measures 13 km across).

New Comet: C/2015 G2 (MASTER)
May 11, 2015
CBET nr. 4092, issued on 2015, April 10, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~11) on R-band images taken by P. Balanutsa et al. with the MASTER (Mobile Astronomical System of the Telescope-Robots) 0.4-m f/2.5 reflector at the South African Astronomical Observatory. The new comet has been designated C/2015 G2 (MASTER).

CometWatch 26 April
May 10, 2015
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on 26 April and not only presents an incredible view of the comet’s activity, but also shows off some interesting new views of the comet’s nucleus.