COBS News archive

Astronomers preparing for first-ever comet landing attempt
November 11, 2014
Astronomers are preparing for the first ever landing by a spacecraft on an icy comet tomorrow. The Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004, and has spent a decade manoeuvring to rendezvous with the comet.

Rosetta's Singing Comet
November 11, 2014
A set of instruments on the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has picked up a mysterious "song" from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Rosetta will attempt the first-ever soft landing on a comet when it dispatches its Philae lander to the surface of comet 67P.

Mars Spacecraft Reveal Comet Flyby Effects on Martian Atmosphere
November 08, 2014
Two NASA and one European spacecraft that obtained the first up-close observations of a comet flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, have gathered new information about the basic properties of the comet's nucleus and directly detected the effects on the Martian atmosphere.

Rosetta Races Toward Comet Touchdown
November 07, 2014
After sailing through space for more than 10 years, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is now less than a week shy of landing a robotic probe on a comet.

Rosetta lined up for lander delivery
November 03, 2014
Rosetta conducted an important manoeuvre this morning that shifted it onto the orbit it will maintain until 12 November, when Philae is set for dispatch to the surface of comet 67P/C-G.

Hubble Sees Comet Next to Mars
November 03, 2014
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has produced a unique composite image of comet Siding Spring as it made its never-before-seen close passage of a comet by Mars.

Rosetta's Comet Scrambling Its Jets
October 27, 2014
This image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken by Rosetta's Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) on Sept. 20, from a distance of 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers), shows jets of dust and gas streaming into space from the neck of the comet's nucleus.

Mars Orbiter's Spectrometer Shows Oort Comet's Coma
October 27, 2014
The Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) observed comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring as the comet sped close to Mars on Oct. 19. CRISM recorded imaging data in 107 different wavelengths, showing the inner part of the cloud of dust, called the coma, surrounding the comet's nucleus.

MAVEN Ultraviolet Image of Comet Siding Spring's Hydrogen Coma
October 27, 2014
NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft obtained this ultraviolet image of hydrogen surrounding comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring on Oct. 17, 2014, two days before the comet's closest approach to Mars. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument imaged the comet at a distance of 5.3 million miles (8.5 million kilometers).

Two families of comets found around nearby star: Biggest census ever of exocomets around Beta Pictoris
October 24, 2014
The HARPS instrument at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile has been used to make the most complete census of comets around another star ever created. A French team of astronomers has studied nearly 500 individual comets orbiting the star Beta Pictoris and has discovered that they belong to two distinct families of exocomets: old exocomets that have made multiple passages near the star, and younger exocomets that probably came from the recent breakup of one or more larger objects. The new results will appear in the journal Nature on 23 October 2014.

The perfume of the comet
October 24, 2014
How does a comet smell? Since early August the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) is sniffing the fumes of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko with its two mass spectrometers. The detected chemistry in the coma of the comet is surprisingly rich already at more than 400 million kilometres from the Sun.

Mars Orbiter image shows comet nucleus is small
October 22, 2014
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured views of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring while that visitor sped past Mars on Sunday (Oct. 19), yielding information about its nucleus.

NASA Rover Opportunity Views Comet Near Mars
October 21, 2014
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured images of a comet passing much closer to Mars than any previous known comet flyby of Earth or Mars. The images of comet Siding Spring were taken against a backdrop of the pre-dawn Martian sky on Sunday (Oct. 19).

All Three NASA Mars Orbiters Healthy After Comet Flyby
October 20, 2014
All three NASA orbiters around Mars confirmed their healthy status Sunday after each took shelter behind Mars during a period of risk from dust released by a passing comet.

NASA's Mars Odyssey Orbiter Watches Comet Fly Near
October 19, 2014
The longest-lived robot ever sent to Mars came through its latest challenge in good health, reporting home on schedule after sheltering behind Mars from possible comet dust.

NASA's MAVEN Studies Passing Comet and Its Effects
October 19, 2014
NASA's newest orbiter at Mars, MAVEN, took precautions to avoid harm from a dust-spewing comet that flew near Mars today and is studying the flyby's effects on the Red Planet's atmosphere.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Studies Comet Flyby
October 19, 2014
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has sent home more data about Mars than all other missions combined, is also now providing data about a comet that buzzed The Red Planet today (Oct. 19).

Your Chance To Name A Comet Landing Site
October 18, 2014
Ever want to get in on the celestial feature-naming action? Now is your chance.

Rosetta's Comet Landing Site Close Up
October 17, 2014
A mosaic from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft shows "Site J," the primary landing site on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for the mission's Philae lander. Rosetta is the first mission to attempt a soft landing on a comet.

Making measurements when a comet passes close to Mars
October 17, 2014
On Sunday 19 October at 20:29 CET a comet will pass close to the planet Mars. At the same time the Swedish instrument ASPERA-3 is on board the European satellite Mars Express orbiting Mars and ready to make measurements.