67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, officially designated 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, is a comet with a current orbital period of 6.6 years. It is the destination of the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft mission, launched on March 2, 2004.^[2]

Discovery

The comet was discovered by Klim Ivanovich Churyumov, who examined a photograph that had been exposed for periodic comet 32P/Comas Solá by Svetlana Gerasimenko on September 11, 1969 at the Alma-Ata Astrophysical Institute. Churyumov found a cometary object near the edge of the plate, but assumed that this was Comas Solá.

After returning to his home institute in Kiev, Churyumov examined all the photographic plates more closely. About a month after the photograph was taken (October 22), he discovered that the object could not be Comas Solá, because it was about 1.8 degrees off the expected position. Further scrutiny produced a faint image of Comas Solá at its expected position on the plate, thus proving that the other object was a newly discovered comet.

Observations

As preparation for the Rosetta mission, Hubble Space Telescope pictures taken on March 12, 2003, were closely analyzed. An overall 3-D model was constructed and computer generated images created.

Orbital history

Comets are regularly nudged from one orbit to another when they encounter Jupiter or Saturn in close proximity. It has been calculated that before the year 1959 Churyumov–Gerasimenko had perihelion distance of about 2.7 AU. In 1959 a close encounter with Jupiter pushed its perihelion distance to about 1.3 AU, where it remains today.^[3]

References

External links

• 67P on Kronk's Cometography
• 67P/Churymuov-Gerasimenko at ESA/Hubble
• Color image of 67P/Churymuov-Gerasimenko
• Detailed description of 67P with light curves and pictures
• The Dust Trail of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko between 2004 and 2006
• 67P at ESA website