Philae's landing site, dubbed Agilkia, as seen by the Rosetta spacecraft on Oct. 30, 2014. The spacecraft was 26.8 km (16.7 miles) from the comet's center when the picture was taken. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
After sifting through 8,000 entries in multiple languages — even in Esperanto! — the contest to name Philae’s landing site on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has resulted in an Egyptian-themed name.
The European Space Agency lander will touch down on the comet on a site dubbed “Agilkia”, which is named after an Egyptian island that hosts the Temple of Isis and other buildings that previously were on the island Philae. The buildings were moved due to the Aswan dams flooding Philae in the past century.
Agilkia, which was voted for by more than 150 people, fits in perfectly with ESA’s decision to informally name features on the comet after Egyptian names. Mission planners for the Rosetta orbiter and its lander, Philae, previously dubbed the site “J” before the landing contest was announced.
NAVCAM image of the comet on 21 September, which includes a view of primary landing site J. Click for more details and link to context image. (Credits: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)
“The decision was very tough,” stated steering committee chair Felix Huber, who is with the DLR German Aerospace Center. “We received so many good suggestions on how to name Site J, and we were delighted with such an enthusiastic response from all over the world. We wish to thank all participants for sharing their great ideas with us.”
Alexandre Brouste from France was voted the overall winner and will be invited to follow the Nov. 12 landing live at ESA’s Space Operations Control Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. The landing is expected to take place around 12 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. UTC), and you can follow the livestream here.
Comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS, one of the most dependable comets of 2014, may put on its encore performance over the coming weeks for southern hemisphere observers.
First, the story thus far. Discovered as a +19th magnitude smudge along the borders of the constellations Ophiuchus and Hercules in mid-May 2012 courtesy of the Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) based atop Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui, astronomers soon realized that comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS would be something special.
The comet broke +10th magnitude to become a visible binocular object in early 2014, and wowed northern hemisphere observers as it vaulted across the constellations of Boötes and Ursa Major this past spring.
NASA’s NEOWISE mission spies K1 PanSTARRS on May 20th as it slides by the galaxy NGC 3726 (blue). Credit: NASA/JPL.
The comet is approaching the inner solar system on a retrograde, highly-inclined orbit tilted 142 degrees relative the ecliptic. This bizarre orbit also assures that the comet will actually reach opposition twice in 2014 as seen from our earthly vantage point: once on April 15th, and another opposition coming right up on November 7th.
As was the case with comet Hale-Bopp way back in 1997, had C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS arrived six months earlier or later, we would’ve been in for a truly spectacular show, as the comet reached perihelion on August 27th, 2014, only 0.05 A.U.s (4.6 million miles or 7.7 million kilometres) outside the orbit of the Earth! But such a spectacle was not to be… back in ’97, Hale-Bopp’s enormous size — featuring a nucleus estimated 40 to 60 kilometres across — made for a grand show regardless… fast forward to 2014, and the tinier nucleus of K1 PanSTARRS has been relegated to binocular status only.
The position of comet K1 PanSTARRS as it passes its second opposition of the year. Credit: NASA/JPL.
From here on out, K1 PanSTARRS is headed south “with a bullet” and into memory for most northern hemisphere observers. We spied the comet this morning low to the south near +3rd magnitude Nu Puppis in the pre-dawn sky with our trusty 15×45 binocs from Yuma, Arizona, for what will probably be our last time. This also means that the time to catch a last glimpse of K1 PanSTARRS for northern hemisphere viewers is now. This week sees the comet transiting just 20 degrees above the southern horizon at 3:00 to 4:00 AM local for observers based from latitude 30 degrees north as it crosses the constellation Puppis. The bright star Sirius nearly shares the same position as the comet in right ascension this week, and K1 PanSTARRS sits about 24 degrees south of the Dog Star.
Comet K1 PanSTARRS imaged on June 14th. Credit: Efrain Morales.
Halloween sees the comet even lower, crossing the southern meridian at only 13 degrees elevation as seen from latitude 30 degrees north. Draw a straight line from Sirius to the south celestial pole around this date to find the comet just 5 degrees to the north of Canopus.
But the show is just beginning for southern hemisphere residents. Observing from the town of Bright Australia, Robert Kaufmann recently noted in a posting on the Yahoo Groups Comet Observer’s message board that the comet currently exhibits a 4’ wide coma shining at about magnitude +7.3 with an elevation of 28 degrees above the horizon on October 25th.
And if the comet holds steady in brightness, it may break the visual threshold and become a naked eye object as seen from a dark sky site in early November.
The projected light curve of K1 PanSTARRS with brightness observations (black dots). The vertical pink line marks the comet’s perihelion passage in late August. Credit: Seiichi Yoshida’s Weekly Information on Bright Comets.
The comet will be literally “hauling tail” across the constellation Dorado as it nears its second opposition of the year on November 7th, moving about 1.5 degrees a day – 3 times the apparent diameter of the Full Moon – on closest approach.
Currently, the comet has been observed to have an estimated magnitude holding steady at+7 and is predicted to peak at perhaps magnitude +6 early next month. And while it would’ve been great had it arrived 6 months earlier or later, the aforementioned high retrograde inclination of its orbit assured that K1 PanSTARRS was a top performer for both hemispheres in 2014.
Perihelion passage occurred two months ago, but to paraphrase a famous Monty Python skit, Comet K1 PanSTARRS is “not dead yet.” Here are some key observing dates coming right up as the comet gains prominence in the southern hemisphere sky:
(Note that close passages of less than one degree near stars +4th magnitude or brighter only are mentioned).
Oct 31st: Passes closest to Earth, at 0.953 A.U.s distant.
Nov 1st: Crosses into the constellation Pictor.
Nov 2nd: Passes near the +3.8 magnitude star Beta Pictoris.
Nov 6th: Crosses into the constellation Dorado.
Nov 6th: Full Moon occurs, marking the beginning of an unfavorable week for comet hunting.
Nov 7th: The second opposition of the comet for 2014 occurs at 3:00 UT.
Nov 8th: Passes near the +3.3 magnitude star Alpha Doradus.
Nov 11th: Crosses into the constellation Reticulum.
Nov 13th: Crosses into the constellation Horologium.
Nov 14th: Passes 34 degrees from the South Celestial Pole.
Nov 20th: Crosses into the constellation Eridanus.
Nov 22nd: New Moon occurs, marking a week long span optimal for comet-hunting.
Nov 25th: Crosses into the constellation Phoenix.
The path of K1 PanSTARRS from October 27th through December 1st. Created by the author using Starry Night Education Software.
Dec 6th: Full Moon occurs.
Dec 12th: Passes near the +2.8 magnitude star Alpha Phoenicis (Ankaa).
Dec 18th: Crosses into the constellation Sculptor.
Dec 22nd: New Moon occurs.
Looking at 2015, K1 PanSTARRS will probably fall back below +10th magnitude by late January. The comet will then head back out into the depths of the outer solar system, its multi-million year orbit only slightly altered by its inner solar system passage down into the ~700,000 year range. What will Earth be like on that far off date? Will human eyes greet the comet once again, and will anyone remember its appearance way back in the mists of time in 2014? All thoughts to ponder as we bid fair well to Comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS, a fine binocular comet indeed.
67P compared to other comets, asteroids and Earth objects. Even the Death Star. Illustration by Judy Schmidt.
We’ve seen a bunch of pictures comparing Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko with all kinds of cities and objects on Earth, but it’s hard to put everything in perspective. Just how big is this thing? How big is it compared to other asteroids and comets we’ve imaged? What about more familiar objects, like the Burj Khalifa and Central Park?
How big is 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko compared to the Death Star?!?
Fortunately, our good friend Judy Schmidt@SpaceGeck took it upon herself to clear this all up. She created this wonderful infographic that shows 67/P surrounded by a bunch of other objects in the Solar System with a similar size. There’s Siding Spring, the Mars moon Deimos, 19P/Borrelly, 103P/Hartley, and others.
And then they’re compared to the Burj Khalifa, a blue whale, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and much more.
But most importantly, at the bottom of the image, you can see the slight curvature of a fully operational Death Star. Yeah… those things are pretty big.
Anyway, I highly recommend you check out Judy’s post about the illustration over on Flickr and read her behind the scenes commentary.
And while you’re at it, check out her previous illustration of 100 planetary nebulae in a single image.
Ambition is a collaboration between Platige Image and ESA. Shot on location in Iceland, it is directed by Tomek Bagi?ski and stars Aiden Gillen and Aisling Franciosi. Does Ambition accomplish more in 7 minutes than Gravity did in 90? Consider the abstraction of the Rosetta mission in light of NASA’s ambitions. (Credit: ESA, Illustration- TRR)
NASA has taken on space missions that have taken years to reach their destination; they have more than a dozen ongoing missions throughout the Solar System and have been to comets as well. So why pay any attention to the European Space Agency’s comet mission Rosetta and their new short film, “Ambition”?
‘Ambition’ might accomplish more in 7 minutes than ‘Gravity’ did in 90.
‘Ambition’ is a 7 minute movie created for ESA and Rosetta, shot on location in Iceland, directed by Oscar-winning Tomek Baginski, and stars Aidan Gillen—Littlefinger of ‘Game of Thrones.’ It is an abstraction of the near future where humans have become demigods. An apprentice is working to merge her understanding of existence with her powers to create. And her master steps in to assure she is truly ready to take the next step.
In the reality of today, we struggle to find grounding for the quest and discoveries that make up our lives on a daily basis. Yet, as the Ebola outbreak or the Middle East crisis reminds us, we are far from breaking away. Such events are like the opening scene of ‘Ambition’ when the apprentice’s work explodes in her face.
The ancient Greeks also took great leaps beyond all the surrounding cultures. They imagined themselves as capable of being demigods. Achilles and Heracles were born from their contact with the gods but they remained fallible and mortal.
The Comet Rendezvous and Flyby Mission conceived in one of two Mariner Mark II spacecraft was abandoned by the US Congress. The American led mission would have accomplished the objectives now being completed by the European Rosetta mission. (Photo Credit: NASA)
But consider the abstraction of the Rosetta mission in light of NASA’s ambitions. As an American viewing the European short film, it reminds me that we are not unlike the ancient Greeks. We have seen the heights of our powers and ability to repel and conquer our enemies, and enrich our country. But we stand manifold vulnerable.
In ‘Ambition’ and Rosetta, America can see our European cousins stepping ahead of us. The reality of the Rosetta mission is that a generation ago – 25 years — we had a mission as ambitious called Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF). From the minds within NASA and JPL, twin missions were born. They were of the Mariner Mark II spacecraft design for deep space. One was to Saturn and the other – CRAF was to a comet. CRAF was rejected by congress and became an accepted sacrifice by NASA in order to save its twin, the Cassini mission.
The short film ‘Ambition’ and the Rosetta mission is a reminder of what American ambition accomplished in the 60’s – Apollo, and the 70s – the Viking Landers, but then it began to falter in the 80s. The ambition of the Europeans did not lose site of the importance of comets. They are perhaps the ultimate Rosetta stones of our star system. They are unmitigated remnants of what created our planet billions of years ago unlike the asteroids that remained close to the Sun and were altered by its heat and many collisions.
Artist Illustration of the Cassini space probe to Saturn and Titan, a joint NASA, ESA mission. Cassini was the only Mariner Mark II spacecraft completed. (Photo Credit: NASA)
Our cousins picked up a scepter that we dropped and we should take notice that the best that Europe spawned in the last century – the abstract art of Picasso and Stravinsky, rocketry, and jet travel — remains alive today. Europe had the vision to continue a quest to something quite abstract, a comet, while we chose something bigger and more self-evident, Saturn and Titan.
‘Ambition’ shows us the forces at work in and around ESA. They blend the arts with the sciences to bend our minds and force us to imagine what next and why. There have been American epoch films that bend our minds, but yet sometimes it seems we hold back our innate drive to discover and venture out.
NASA recently created a 7 minute film of a harsh reality, the challenge of landing safely on Mars. ESA and Rosetta’s short film reminds us that we are not alone in the quest for knowledge and discovery, both of which set the stage for new growth and invention. America needs to take heed so that we do not wait until we reach the moment when an arrow pierces our heel as with Achilles and we succumb to our challengers.
Comet Siding Spring shines in ultraviolet in this image obtained by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. Credit: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/University of Colorado; NASA
As Comet Siding Spring passed close by Mars on Sunday (Oct. 19), NASA’s newest Mars spacecraft took a time-out from its commissioning to grab some ultraviolet pictures of its coma. What you see above is hydrogen, a whole lot of it, leaving the comet in this picture taken from 5.3 million miles (8.5 million kilometers).
The hydrogen is a product of the water ice on the comet that the Sun is slowly melting and breaking apart into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Because hydrogen scatters ultraviolet light from the Sun, it shows up rather clearly in this picture taken by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.
Check out more recent pictures of Siding Spring below.
Is this an image of Comet Siding Spring? It’s the only fuzzy object in the field photographed on Sol 3817 (October 19) by the Opportunity Rover. Click for original raw image.Comet Siding Spring near Mars in a composite image by the Hubble Space Telescope, capturing their positions between Oct. 18 8:06 a.m. EDT (12:06 p.m. UTC) and Oct. 19 11:17 p.m. EDT (Oct. 20, 3:17 a.m. UTC). Credit: NASA, ESA, PSI, JHU/APL, STScI/AURAAnother photo, just in, taken of the comet and Mars today (Oct. 19) by Rolando Ligustri. Beautiful!Comet 2013 A1 Siding Spring on October 17, 2014, with two days to go until its Martian encounter. Very dense Milkyway starfield in the background with many darker obscured regions. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach.
A view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Sept. 26, 2014 from the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
While you can’t smell in space — there is no medium to carry the molecules, the same reason you can’t hear things — you can certainly detect what molecules are emanating from comets and other solar system bodies. A new analysis of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft thus found a rather pungent chemistry combination.
The spacecraft detected hydrogen sulphide (the smell of rotten eggs), ammonia and formaldehyde with traces of hydrogen cyanide and methanol. But compared to the amounts of water and carbon monixide 67P has, these molecule concentrations are quite miniscule.
“This all makes a scientifically enormously interesting mixture in order to study the origin of our solar system material, the formation of our Earth and the origin of life,” stated the University of Bern’s Kathrin Altwegg, from the center of space and habitability.
“And after all: it seems like comet Churyumov was indeed attracted by comet Gerasimenko to form Churyumov-Gerasimenko, even though its perfume may not be Chanel No 5, but comets clearly have their own preferences.”
More seriously, astronomers do say that at three astronomical units (Earth-Sun distances) from the Sun, the comet is emitting more molecules than expected. The next step will be to compare Rosetta’s data with ground-based data of other comets to see if this is common.
This Rosetta image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shows spectacular jets erupting from the small body on Sept. 10, 2014. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Jet! The comet that the Rosetta spacecraft is visiting is shedding more dust as machine and Solar System body get closer to the Sun.
While activity was first seen at the “neck” of the rubber-duckie shaped comet a few weeks ago, now scientists are seeing jets spring from across the comet.
This is just one signal of cometary activity picking up as 67P gets closer to the Sun. For the moment, it appears the prime landing site is still safe enough for Philae to land on Nov. 19, officials said, while noting there is a jet about a kilometer away that the lander can study when it gets there.
Jets spring from the “neck” area of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The smaller lobe is on the left, and the larger on the right. These images were taken about 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the surface. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
“At this point, we believe that a large fraction of the illuminated comet’s surface is displaying some level of activity,” stated Jean-Baptiste Vincent a scientist from the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) that took the pictures. He is with the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany.
The comet is about 470 million kilometers (292 miles) from the Sun and will make its closest approach in 2015. Rosetta is the first mission to orbit a comet as it gets close to the Sun, and Philae (if successful) will make the first “soft” landing on a cometary surface.
High resolution image pairs made with HiRISE camera on MRO during Comet Siding Spring's closest approach to Mars on October 19. Shown at top are images of the nucleus region and inner coma. Those at bottom were exposed to show the bigger coma beginning of a tail. Credit: NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona
Not to be outdone by the feisty Opportunity Rover, the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) turned in its homework this evening with a fine image of comet C/2013 Siding Spring taken during closest approach on October 19.
The highest-resolution images were acquired by HiRISE at the minimum distance of 85,750 miles (138,000 km). The image has a scale of 453 feet (138-m) per pixel.
The top set of photos uses the full dynamic range of the camera to accurately depict brightness and detail in the nuclear region and inner coma. Prior to its arrival near Mars astronomers estimated the nucleus or comet’s core diameter at around 0.6 mile (1 km). Based on these images, where the brightest feature is only 2-3 pixels across, its true size is shy of 1/3 mile or 0.5 km. The bottom photos overexpose the comet’s innards but reveal an extended coma and the beginning of a tail extending to the right.
Annotated photo of Comet Siding Spring taken by the Opportunity Rover on October 19 when near closest approach. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./ASU/TAMU
To photograph a fast-moving target from orbit, engineers at Lockheed-Martin in Denver precisely pointed and slewed the spacecraft based on comet position calculations by engineers at JPL. To make sure they knew exactly where the comet was, the team photographed the comet 12 days in advance when it was barely bright enough to register above the detector’s noise level. To their surprise, it was not exactly where orbital calculations had predicted it to be. Using the new positions, MRO succeeded in locking onto the comet during the flyby. Without this “double check” its cameras may have missed seeing Siding Spring altogether!
Meanwhile, the Jet Propulsion Lab has released an annotated image showing the stars around the comet in the photo taken by NASA’s Opportunity Rover during closest approach. From Mars’ perspective the comet passed near Alpha Ceti in the constellation Cetus, but here on Earth we see it in southern Ophiuchus not far from Sagittarius.
Comet Siding Spring continues on its way today past the planet Mars in this photo taken on October 20. Copyright: Rolando Ligustri
“It’s excitingly fortunate that this comet came so close to Mars to give us a chance to study it with the instruments we’re using to study Mars,” said Opportunity science team member Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, who coordinated the camera pointing. “The views from Mars rovers, in particular, give us a human perspective, because they are about as sensitive to light as our eyes would be.”
After seeing photos from both Earth and Mars I swear I’m that close to picturing this comet in 3D in my mind’s eye. NASA engineers and scientists deserve a huge thanks for their amazing and successful effort to turn rovers and spacecraft, intended for other purposes, into comet observatories in a pinch and then deliver results within 24 hours. Nice work!
Is this an image of Comet Siding Spring? It's the only fuzzy object in the field photographed on Sol 3817 (October 19) by the Opportunity Rover. Click for original raw image.
It looks like NASA’s hard-working Opportunity Rover nabbed our very first pictures of a comet seen from another world! A study of raw images taken by the rover turned up a very promising fuzzy object. Only three night sky pictures were posted today, but two clearly show a fuzzy spot near the center of the field. Stars show as points of light and there are what appear to be a smattering of cosmic ray hits, but in the photo above, the brightest object is slightly elongated (trailed during the exposure?) and cometary in appearance.
Here’s another photo:
A second picture from Opportunity possibly showing the comet. Click for original. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Looking back over earlier photos of the sky taken on Sol 3212 show only stars and no fuzzy blobs. The pictures were taken around 4:13 a.m. local time with the Sun 25 degrees below the horizon. Opportunity can photograph diffuse objects as dim as the Andromeda Galaxy at magnitude +3.5 and stars down to magnitude +6 or +7. That’s similar to what we see on Earth on very dark night. Since the comet glowed far brighter at around magnitude -5 by some estimates, it would be a relatively easy catch for the rover panoramic camera.
Curiousity Navcam photo of the sky on October 19, 2014, shows the silhouetted rim of Gale Crater and lots of noise. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA has also posted images taken by the Curiosity Rover but for the life of me I can’t find any sign of the Comet Siding Spring. Maybe it’ll pop out after the noise is removed. We’ll keep you posted.
Another Curiosity photo of the sky. If you look closely you’ll see stars among the noise. Click for original Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Rosetta spacecraft takes a selfie Oct. 7 with its target, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, from an altitude of about 9.9 miles (16 kilometers). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA
The Philae spacecraft has a tough job ahead of it on November 12: it is slated to make the first landing on a comet’s surface. Riding piggyback on the Rosetta spacecraft, all indications are it is in good health and ready for the job; the team has even been taking the time for Philae to image spacecraft “selfies” with its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, in the background.
And Rosetta will also be working hard, as the animation above shows us with the various maneuvers the spacecraft will be required to send Philae to the surface. Read more about these orbital changes below, as well as details of a contest to name the comet’s landing site.
As you can see in the animation, Rosetta starts in a 19 kilometer (11.8 mile) orbit, then moves down to the 10 km (6.2 mile) mapping orbit that it is right now.
Rosetta then does some maneuvers to get ready to send Philae to the surface, including a trajectory change about 2-3 hours before Philae’s landing. Rosetta will be about 22.5 km (14 miles) from the comet during the pre-separation phase. Then, the latter part of the animation shows Rosetta moving around to orbits ranging between 20 km and 50 km (12.4 miles and 18.6 miles) through December.
Meanwhile, here’s another way that certain people can get involved in the mission: the European Space Agency has a naming contest for the prime landing site!
“The rules are simple: any name can be proposed, but it must not be the name of a person,” ESA stated. “The name must be accompanied by a short description (up to 200 words) explaining why this would make the ideal name for such an historic location.”
Full contest rules and details are available here. Hurry as the deadline is Oct. 22!
