COBS News archive
Rosetta’s mass spectrometer ROSINA detected argon at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
October 03, 2015
Rosetta’s first peek at the comet’s south pole
October 02, 2015
Using the Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO), scientists have studied the comets southern polar regions at the end of their long winter season. The data suggest that these dark, cold regions host ice within the first few tens of centimetres below the surface in much larger amounts than elsewhere on the comet.
An update on Comet 67P/C-G’s water-ice cycle
October 01, 2015
Cometwatch 21 September
September 28, 2015
Comet surface changes before Rosetta’s eyes
September 28, 2015
Since arriving at Comet 67P/C-G in August 2014, Rosetta has been witnessing an increase in the activity of the comet, warmed by the ever-closer Sun. A general increase in the outflow of gas and dust has been punctuated by the emergence of jets and dramatic rapid outbursts in the weeks around perihelion, the closest point to the Sun on the comet’s orbit, which occurred on 13 August 2015.
CometWatch 11 September
September 25, 2015
New Comet: P/2015 Q2 (PIMENTEL)
September 25, 2015
CBET nr. 4140, issued on 2015, September 02, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18.5) by Eduardo Pimentel on Aug. 24.2 UT with a 0.45-m f/2.9 reflector of the SONEAR Observatory at Oliveira. Follow-up observations to confirm the object were obtained by C. Jacques, E. Pimentel, and J. Barros with the same telescope on Aug. 27.3 and31.3. The new comet has been designated P/2015 Q2 (PIMENTEL).
CometWatch 5 September
September 15, 2015
CometWatch 30 August
September 15, 2015
Comet hitchhiker would take tour of small bodies
September 07, 2015
Comet impacts may have led to life on Earth -- and perhaps elsewhere
September 07, 2015
Comet impact on Earth are synonymous with great extinctions, but now research presented at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Prague shows that early comet impact would have become a driving force to cause substantial synthesis of peptides -- the first building blocks of life. This may have implications for the genesis of life on other worlds.
CometWatch 26 August
September 07, 2015
CometWatch 22 August 2015
September 07, 2015
CometWatch 16 August
September 07, 2015
Today's CometWatch entry was taken three days after the perihelion of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, on 16 August 2015. At the time, Rosetta was 331 km from the comet, which in turn was just over 186 million km from the Sun and almost 265 million km from Earth. This single frame NAVCAM image has a resolution of 28.2 m/pixel and it measures 28.9 km across.
Rosetta’s big day in the Sun
August 17, 2015
Comet’s firework display ahead of perihelion
August 17, 2015
CometWatch 6 August
August 15, 2015
Organic molecules on comets: Philae's first results from Churi prove surprising
August 05, 2015
Organic molecules never previously observed in comets, a relatively varied structure on the surface but a fairly homogeneous interior, organic compounds forming agglomerates rather than being dispersed in the ice: these are just some of first results provided by Philae on the surface of comet Churi. These in situ findings, which contain a wealth of completely new information, reveal several differences in comparison with previous observations of comets and current models.
Comets: Soft shell, hard core?
August 05, 2015
Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko poses new riddles: Surface material measurements performed by the Philae landing module indicate that the near surface material might have changed since its formation. Up to now, many researchers had assumed that it has remained in virtually the same state since its formation about 4.5 billion years ago.
CometWatch 30 July
August 05, 2015
