According to the reports revealed by BBC News, the ESA (European Space Agency) has out highly detailed pictures of the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The images are available at .wrl and .obj files from the ESA site. However, these high resolution pictures help people with a proper software and a 3D printer to formulate a physical model of the comet.
Moreover, the images also endow with the most accurate estimates of 67P’s genuine dimensions. The previous reports revealed that, the comet is about 4kms in diameter. But, now with the help of recent images, we can clearly see the dimensions equaling 2.5 km by 2.5 km by 2.0 km for the head, which is smaller of the comet’s two lobes, and 4.1 km by 3.2 km by 1.3 km for the body, the bigger lobe.
As per the reports of earlier studies, the mass of the comet equals to 10mn tons and having the density of 400kgs per cubic meter. The comet completes one rotation every 12.4043 hours and the comet’s surface temperature is between -68 C and -43 C, whereas the subsurface temperature is around -243 C and -113 C. Rosetta has spotted water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, and methanol, all in gaseous form, on the comet.
More information concerning Comet 67P will possibly include its albido, which is the amount of light it reflects and getting more high-resolution pictures captured with the help of Rosetta OSIRIS camera.
Certainly, Rosetta appointed with the Comet 67P in August. And right now both are 464mn-kms from Earth. After that, the main occasion in Rosetta’s stopover, associating Comet 67P as it moves deeper into the solar system, will be the exploitation of the Philae lander. As per the official reports, Philae will detach from Rosetta on Nov 12th and stab to land on the comet’s head in a plan enduring around 7 hours.
