COBS News archive

Comet 67P/C-G in living colour
December 16, 2014
Rosetta’s OSIRIS team have produced a colour image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it would be seen by the human eye. As anticipated, the comet turns out to be very grey indeed, with only slight, subtle colour variations seen across its surface.

New Comet: P/2014 X1 (ELENIN)
December 15, 2014
CBET nr. 4034, issued on 2014, December 14, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18) by Leonid Elenin on three CCD images taken on 2014, December 12 with a 0.4-m f/3 astrograph at the ISON-NM Observatory near Mayhill, NM, USA. The new comet has been designated P/2014 X1 (ELENIN).

CometWatch 9 December
December 12, 2014
This four-image mosaic comprises images taken from a distance of 20.4 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 9 December. The image resolution is 1.74m/pixel and the individual 1024 x 1024 frames measure 1.8 km across. The mosaic is slightly cropped and measures 2.9 x 2.7 km.

Rosetta fuels debate on origin of Earth’s oceans
December 11, 2014
Rosetta has found that the composition of the water vapour at Comet 67P/C-G is significantly different to that found on Earth.

CometWatch 7 December 2014
December 10, 2014
This four-image mosaic comprises images taken by Rosetta’s NAVCAM on 7 December from a distance of 19.7 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

CometWatch 2 December
December 08, 2014
This four image mosaic comprises images taken with Rosetta’s NAVCAM on 2 December from a distance of 30.1 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image resolution of the mosaic is about 3.1 m/pixel, and it has been cropped to measure 4.5 x 3.6 km.

CometWatch – 1 December
December 05, 2014
This four image mosaic comprises images taken with Rosetta’s NAVCAM on 1 December from a distance of 30.1 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image resolution in the mosaic is 2.4 m/pixel and after cropping, it measures 3.8 x 3.5 km. The individual 1024 x 1024 frames, which are provided at the end of this post, measure 2.6 km across.

CometWatch 26 November
December 02, 2014
This four-image montage comprises images taken on 26 November from a distance of 30.1 km from the centre of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image resolution is 2.4 m/pixel so each original 1024 x 1024 pixel frame measures about 2.5 km across.

Did Philae graze a crater rim during its first bounce?
December 01, 2014
Based on inputs from ROMAP co-principal investigator Hans-Ulrich Auster from the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany. Data collected by ROMAP, the Rosetta Lander Magnetometer and Plasma Monitor onboard Philae, is being used to help reconstruct the trajectory of the lander to its final landing site on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

CometWatch 20 November - In the shadow of the coma
November 27, 2014
This NAVCAM mosaic comprises four individual images taken on 20 November from a distance of 30.8 km from the centre of Comet 67P/C-G. The image resolution is 2.6 m/pixel, so each original 1024 x 1024 pixel frame measured about 2.7 km across. The mosaic has been slightly rescaled, rotated, and cropped, and measures roughly 4.2 x 5.0 km.

CometWatch 20 November
November 25, 2014
This four-image montage comprises images taken of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 20 November, from a distance of 30.5 km from the centre of the comet. The image resolution is 2.59 m/pixel, so each 1024 x 1024 frame measures 2.66 km across. The four images making up the montage are provided at the end of the post.

New Comet: C/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS)
November 25, 2014
CBET nr. 4019, issued on 2014, November 21, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18.7) by PANSTARRS survey in four w-band CCD exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope at Haleakala on Nov. 17. The new comet has been designated C/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS).

Homing in on Philae’s final landing site
November 22, 2014
Based on inputs provided by the CONSERT principal investigator Wlodek Kofman, CNRS researcher at the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, Grenoble, France.

Cometwatch – 17 November
November 21, 2014
After last week's intense activities centred on Rosetta's lander Philae and its descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it's time to take another look at this beautiful comet through Rosetta's navigation camera.

The sound of touchdown
November 21, 2014
Sensors in the feet of Rosetta’s lander Philae have recorded the sound of touchdown as it first came into contact with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The instrument, SESAME-CASSE, was turned on during the descent and clearly registered the first touchdown as Philae came into contact with the comet, in the form of vibrations detected in the soles of the lander’s feet.

Rosetta continues into its full science phase
November 20, 2014
With the Philae lander’s mission complete, Rosetta will now continue its own extraordinary exploration, orbiting Comet 67P/Churymov–Gerasimenko during the coming year as the enigmatic body arcs ever closer to our Sun.

Did Philae drill the comet?
November 20, 2014
Philae’s Sampling, Drilling and Distribution (SD2) subsystem was activated towards the end of the surface operations that Philae performed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last week, despite fears that it might alter the lander’s precarious position following its third touchdown. Here we present the latest update from the SD2 team.

Philae settles in dust-covered ice
November 18, 2014
Before going into hibernation in the early hours of 15 November 2014, the Philae lander was able to conduct experiments and return its data to Earth. In this blog post we look at the preliminary analysis conducted by the lander’s Multi-Purpose Sensors for Surface and Subsurface Science instrument package, MUPUS.

OSIRIS spots Philae drifting across the comet
November 17, 2014
These incredible images show the breathtaking journey of Rosetta’s Philae lander as it approached and then rebounded from its first touchdown on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014.

Philae spotted after first landing on 67P
November 16, 2014
On Friday, we published a series of remarkable NAVCAM images acquired by Rosetta as the orbiter monitored the intended landing point of Philae on 12 November from its orbit above Comet 67P/C-G. The images show what appears to be the shadow of a dust cloud kicked up when Philae made its first touch down on the surface of the comet at 15:35 UTC.