WASHINGTON: Europe’s hibernating Philae comet lander touched the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014.
According to the space agency, the probe had not landed on the planned position. The location where the probe had launched is dark side of the comet. Due to the dark side, the probe could not recharge its battery. Currently, the probe is out of battery.
While the agency’s Philae has been resting quietly on the comet’s dark surface, the Rosetta orbiter is continuing to capture amazing images of the comet’s nucleus and send them back to Earth.
Earlier on December 10, Rosetta’s NavCam has taken a picture of the comet. It had taken the image when it was about 12.5 miles away. In the picture, the smaller lobe of the comet could be seen on the right side, while the left part of the camera had larger lobe.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) website featured the image of the cliffs. The agency has posted the picture on Tuesday as the astronomy picture of the day. According to NASA, the wall of the comet’s cliff raises approximately 0.6 of a mile high.
The gravity of comet is very low as compared to earth’s gravity. According to scientists, earth’s gravity is about hundred thousand times stronger than the gravity of the comet. The gravity of the comet is so low that if a person will jump from the edge of the cliff, the person could land without getting hurt.
The cliffs in the image look small in the picture, but the biggest ones are actually about 65 feet across. According to scientists of the ESA, the probe’s batteries are down, but still it has provided them important information about what the comet might smell like.
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