COBS News archive

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.

“Crescent comet” – CometWatch 15 and 16 April
April 24, 2015
Just when we think we have seen Comet 67P/C-G from all possible angles under the current illumination conditions, a striking view like this presents itself.

CometWatch 15 April – 4 hours later
April 24, 2015
Today's CometWatch entry is another single frame NAVCAM image taken on 15 April, almost four hours after the one that was published last Friday. The new picture was obtained at about 165 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where the resolution of NAVCAM is 14 m/pixel. The image has been cropped and measures 10.4 km (the original frame, provided at the end of the post, measures 14.4 km across).

OSIRIS catches activity in the act
April 24, 2015
Rosetta’s scientific imaging system OSIRIS has witnessed a new jet of dust emerging from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was presented during the European Geosciences Union General Assembly, EGU, in Vienna last week.

New Comet: C/2015 F4 (JACQUES)
March 31, 2015
CBET nr. 4085, issued on 2015, March 31, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~16) by C. Jacques on CCD images taken on 2015, March 27.2 by C. Jacques, E. Pimentel and J. Barros with a 0.28-m f/2.2 astrograph at the SONEAR Observatory (Oliveira, Brazil). The new comet has been designated C/2015 F4 (JACQUES).

CometWatch 22 March
March 31, 2015
This single frame Rosetta Navigation Camera image was taken on 22 March 2015 at a distance of 77.8 km from the centre of Comet 67P/C-G. The image scale is 6.6 m/pixel and the 1024 x 1024 pixel image measures 6.8 km across.

CometWatch: Around Anubis and Atum
March 30, 2015
Today’s CometWatch entry presents a recent image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko – taken on 21 March 2015 – along with three previously unpublished close-up images taken during last October’s 10 km bound orbit.

Imhotep up – CometWatch 20 March
March 27, 2015
This single frame NAVCAM image was taken on 20 March 2015 at a distance of 81.7 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image scale of the original 1024 x 1024 pixel image is 7 m/pixel and the image measures 7.1 km across; a cropped, processed version is shown above.

New Comet: C/2015 F2 (POLONIA)
March 27, 2015
CBET nr. 4083, issued on 2015, March 26, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17) by R. Reszelewski, M. Kusiak, M. Gedek and M. Zolnowski on CCD images taken on 2015, March 23 with a remote-controlled 0.1-m f/5 astrograph of the Polonia Observatory at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, in the course of their comet-search program. The new comet has been designated C/2015 F2 (POLONIA).

CometWatch 18 March
March 24, 2015
This single frame NAVCAM image was taken on 18 March at a distance of 81.4 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

CometWatch 14 March – 6 hours later
March 23, 2015
This single frame NAVCAM image was taken on 14 March at a distance of 81.4 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At this distance, the resolution of NAVCAM is 7.3 m/pixel. The image is cropped and measures 6.4 × 5.9 km (the original picture, uncropped, is provided at the end of the post and measures 7.1 km across).

Waiting patiently for Philae
March 23, 2015
For the past eight days, Rosetta has been sending signals to Philae and listening for a response, but the lander has not yet reported back. This report is provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR.

Rosetta makes first detection of molecular nitrogen at a comet
March 23, 2015
ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has made the first measurement of molecular nitrogen at a comet, providing clues about the temperature environment in which Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko formed.

CometWatch 14 March
March 23, 2015
Today’s CometWatch entry was taken by Rosetta's Navigation Camera (NAVCAM) on 14 March at a distance of 85.7 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.