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Comet

67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a comet. It is about 4 km across – about as wide as Lake Zurich is long. In 2014 Philae landed on this comet – the first time ever that a probe had landed on a comet.

▶ View 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the 3D model

Fact file

Type

Comet

Diameter of the nucleus

4.1 km

Mean distance from the Sun

517,608,633 km

Orbital period

6.4 years

Shape of orbit (eccentricity)

0.641 – a very elongated ellipse

Closest point to the Sun

passed on 2 November 2021

Interesting facts about 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

• In 2014 Philae landed on this comet – the first time ever that a probe had landed on a comet.
• It looks like a rubber duck – two lumps that gently bumped together.
• The European probe Rosetta accompanied it for two years on its way around the Sun.

Frequently asked questions about 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Origin

A comet from the Kuiper Belt that Jupiter steered onto a short orbit. Discovered in 1969 by Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko.

Coma and tail

Rosetta found water with a different composition from that on Earth – so comets like this one probably did not bring Earth its water.

Exploration

Rosetta (ESA) reached the comet in 2014; Philae landed on 12 November 2014, bouncing twice as it did so. In 2016 Rosetta itself touched down gently.

Connection with Earth

The nucleus (about 4 km) would fit comfortably inside the city of Zurich – and has almost no gravity: a person would weigh only about one gram there.

Space probes at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

• Rosetta

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