COBS News archive

Preparing for Mars-grazing Comet Siding Spring
October 10, 2014
Up to and during Comet Siding Spring’s flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, NASA’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars will attempt to capture data about the comet that are unobtainable from Earth.

NASA Holds Briefing to Discuss Comet Flyby of Mars Observations
October 08, 2014
NASA will host a briefing at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, Oct. 9, to outline the space and Earth-based assets that will have extraordinary opportunities to image and study a comet from relatively close range to Mars on Sunday, Oct. 19.

Rosetta Comet Fires Its Jets
October 06, 2014
The four images that make up a new montage of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko were taken on September 26, 2014 by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. At the time, Rosetta was about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from the center of the comet.

Follow-up of splitting event in Comet C/2011 J2
October 05, 2014
CBET 3979, issued on 2014 September 19, announced that observations of comet C/2011 J2 (LINEAR) (by F. Manzini, V. Oldani, A. Dan and R. Behrend) on Aug. 27.95, 28.85, and 30.91 UT led to the detection of a second, fainter, nuclear condensation (from now on Component B) located 0".8 east and 7".5 north of the main, brighter nuclear condensation (component A).

Rosetta to Deploy Lander on November 12
September 29, 2014
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will deploy its lander, Philae, to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Nov. 12. Philae's landing site, currently known as Site J, is located on the smaller of the comet's two "lobes," with a backup site on the larger lobe. The sites were selected just six weeks after Rosetta's Aug. 6 arrival at the comet, following the spacecraft's 10-year journey through the solar system.

'J' Marks the Spot for Rosetta's Lander
September 16, 2014
The European Space Agency's Rosetta's lander, Philae, will target Site J, an intriguing region on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko that offers unique scientific potential, with hints of activity nearby, and minimum risk to the lander compared to the other candidate sites. The 220-pound (100-kilogram) lander is scheduled to reach the surface on November 11, where it will perform in-depth measurements to characterize the nucleus. Rosetta is an international mission spearheaded by the European Space Agency with support and instruments provided by NASA.

First Map of Rosetta's Comet
September 14, 2014
Scientists have found that the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko -- the target of study for the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission -- can be divided into several regions, each characterized by different classes of features. High-resolution images of the comet reveal a unique, multifaceted world.

Down, down we go to 29 km – or lower?
September 10, 2014
The Rosetta mission control team are transitioning Europe’s intrepid craft onto the next stage of cometary operations: the Global Mapping Phase (GMP). The update below is based on inputs provided by Flight Director Andrea Accomazzo at ESOC and Project Scientist Matt Taylor at ESTEC.

Rosetta Comet is Darker than Charcoal
September 06, 2014
A NASA instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA's) Rosetta orbiter has successfully made its first delivery of science data from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Rosetta - Alice spectrograph obtains first far ultraviolet spectra of a cometary surface
September 05, 2014
NASA's Alice ultraviolet (UV) spectrograph aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta comet orbiter has delivered its first scientific discoveries. Rosetta, in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is the first spacecraft to study a comet up close.

Rosetta: Landing site search narrows
August 26, 2014
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission has chosen five candidate landing sites on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for its Philae lander. Philae's descent to the comet's nucleus, scheduled for this November, will be the first such landing ever attempted. Rosetta is an international mission spearheaded by the European Space Agency with support and instruments provided by NASA.

New Comet: C/2014 Q3 (BORISOV)
August 26, 2014
Cbet nr. 3936, issued on 2014, August 24, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17) by G. Borisov (Observatory MARGO, Nauchnij) on CCD images obtained with a 0.3-m f/1.5 astrograph telescope on 2014, August 22.02. The new comet has been designated C/2014 Q3 (BORISOV).

Colliding Atmospheres: Mars vs Comet Siding Spring
August 20, 2014
On October 19, 2014, Comet Siding Spring will pass by Mars only 132,000 km away--which would be like a comet passing about 1/3 of the distance between Earth and the Moon. The nucleus of the comet won't hit Mars, but there could be a different kind of collision.

As Seen by Rosetta: Comet Surface Variations
August 18, 2014
A new image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet's nucleus. It was taken by the Rosetta spacecraft's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on August 7, 2014. At the time, the spacecraft was 65 miles (104 kilometers) away from the 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) nucleus.

Comets forge organic molecules in their dusty atmospheres
August 12, 2014
Scientists have made incredible 3D images of the ghostly atmospheres surrounding comets ISON and Lemmon. These new observations provided important insights into how and where comets forge new chemicals, including intriguing organic compounds.

CometWatch – 10 August
August 12, 2014
Rosetta navigation camera (NAVCAM) image taken on 10 August 2014 at about 110 km from comet 67P/C-G. The phase angle is about 45 degrees.

COSIMA reaches for dust
August 10, 2014
Now that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is within our reach, Rosetta’s mass spectrometer COSIMA, managed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, is beginning to reach for cometary dust. Literally.

Postcards from Rosetta
August 07, 2014
Latest images from Rosetta’s comet

Orbiter Completes Maneuver to Prepare for Comet Flyby
August 07, 2014
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has successfully adjusted the timing of its orbit around Mars as a defensive precaution for a comet's close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, 2014.

Rosetta Arrives at Target Comet
August 07, 2014
Today, after a decade-long journey chasing its target, the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe, carrying three NASA instruments, became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.