New Rosetta comet images
New images from Rosetta have a resolution of 100 meters per pixel and are finding that the neck connecting the comet’s two sections is apparently much brighter than the rest of the nucleus.
As earlier images had already shown, 67P may consist of two parts: a smaller head connected to a larger body. The connecting region, the neck, is proving to be especially intriguing. “The only thing we know for sure at this point is that this neck region appears brighter compared to the head and body of the nucleus”, says OSIRIS Principal Investigator Holger Sierks from the Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany. This collar-like appearance could be caused by differences in material or grain size or could be a topographical effect.
It looks like this comet is going to turn out to be one of the most fascinating objects any space probe has visited in a long time.
New images from Rosetta have a resolution of 100 meters per pixel and are finding that the neck connecting the comet’s two sections is apparently much brighter than the rest of the nucleus.
As earlier images had already shown, 67P may consist of two parts: a smaller head connected to a larger body. The connecting region, the neck, is proving to be especially intriguing. “The only thing we know for sure at this point is that this neck region appears brighter compared to the head and body of the nucleus”, says OSIRIS Principal Investigator Holger Sierks from the Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany. This collar-like appearance could be caused by differences in material or grain size or could be a topographical effect.
It looks like this comet is going to turn out to be one of the most fascinating objects any space probe has visited in a long time.