• Question: Helen - Have you estimated or do U actually no how big the comet is ?

    Asked by 362spaa25 to Helen on 21 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 21 Nov 2014:

      Hi 🙂 We know 67P is about 4km across. We first estimated this from Earth using ground and space based telescopes, then as Rosetta got closer it was able to take photos and get more precise measurements. What was really surprising was the shape of it – looks a little bit like a rubber duck! It could be that 2 comets have come together at some point.
      You might be interested in some awesome pictures I found that illustrate just how big 67P is compared to things we’re used to. It’s kind of hard to imagine how large things are in space, when we just see blackness surrounding them.

      http://www.buzzfeed.com/tomphillips/this-is-how-big-comet-67p-would-be-on-earth

      This comparison to New York is cool too

Comments