Comet 67P/C-G develops a coma
Date: 15 May 2014
Satellite: Rosetta
Depicts: Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Copyright: See below
This sequence of images shows comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko moving against a background star field in the constellation Ophiuchus between 27 March and 4 May 2014, as the distance between the spacecraft and comet closed from around 5 million to 2 million kilometres. The comet (and Rosetta) were between 640 million km and 610 million km from the Sun during the sequence. The comet is seen to develop a dust coma as the sequence progresses, with clear activity already visible in late-April. Exposure times are 720 seconds for each image, taken with the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera. The globular cluster M107 is also clearly visible in the field of view.
More images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko can be found in the '67P - by Rosetta' collection.
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
