A distinct coma surrounds comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen from Rosetta
Friday, August 1, 2014 - 05:30
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) —Less than a week before Rosetta's rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, images obtained by OSIRIS, the spacecraft's onboard scientific imaging system, show clear signs of a coma surrounding the comet's nucleus. While OSIRIS' view of the coma covers an area of 150 kilometers across, its outskirts might reach much farther.