Key facts
- Category
- Comets
- Object class
- Comet nucleus
- Mass
- ~10 billion metric tons
- Scale fact
- 6 kmmaximum extent
- Estimated age
- ~4.5 billion years
- Composition
- Water ice, dust, frozen volatiles
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
6 kmmaximum extent
Details
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is the comet nucleus studied in unrivaled detail by ESA’s Rosetta mission. Rosetta detected molecular oxygen streaming from the comet, a surprising result that suggests some of its ice preserves very early Solar System chemistry.
Rosetta accompanied 67P through more than two years of its orbit, measuring how cliffs, fractures, jets, dust and gas changed as sunlight warmed the nucleus. Philae’s landing added measurements from the surface, even though the lander came to rest in an unintended location.
Rosetta also made the first in-situ detection of molecular oxygen outgassing from a comet. Because the oxygen abundance tracked water and reactive O₂ is difficult to preserve, the mission team concluded that it was probably incorporated when the comet formed.
Links
- Preset views
- Universe journey
- Solar System
Size neighbors
Objects near 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko falls between 81P/Wild (Wild 2) and 5535 Annefrank. The band uses nearby Comet nucleus records.
Shared physical scale
8.41km
Sources
References for 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: ESA (Rosetta 2015 / ESA / Rosetta / Navcam, CC BY-SA IGO 3.0)
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About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.