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Intended landing site
Panorama by The New York Times
NOV. 6 Comet 67P/C-G is shaped like a duck, with two lobes separated by a neck. In this image, the comet’s head is at center, with the neck in shadow and body in the background. Philae’s intended landing site, named Agilkia, is a relatively flat area on the comet’s head.
ROSETTA
PHILAE
COMET
RELEASING THE LANDER Rosetta will angle toward the comet and release the Philae lander on Wednesday at 3:35 a.m. Eastern time. Philae will take about seven hours to descend onto the comet’s head.
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Panorama by The New York Times
NOV. 4 The comet’s head is in the foreground and the body is in the background. Rosetta was about 20 miles above the comet’s surface when it took the four photographs used to make this panorama.
500 FEET
Panorama by The New York Times
OCT. 28 The comet’s neck, seen from 5 miles above the surface. Rubble appears to have fallen from some of the overhanging ledges and small cracks visible on some of the ledges at center left might lead to future landslides.
500 FEET
Panorama by The New York Times
OCT. 24 The rugged surface of the comet’s body casts long shadows and the comet’s neck stretches out of sight at upper right.
500 FEET
Panorama by The New York Times
OCT. 18 Looking up at the underbelly of the duck-shaped comet’s larger lobe. The largest boulder at lower left is named Cheops, after the Egypian pyramid, and is about 150 feet across.
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Panorama by The New York Times
OCT. 8 The underbelly and side of the comet’s larger lobe. The largest boulder casting shadows on the flat plain at center left is called Cheops and is about 80 feet high.
ROSETTA The Rosetta spacecraft is a roughly seven-foot cube with a solar-panel wingspan of 105 feet.
OCT. 7 Comet 67P/C-G is framed by one of Rosetta’s solar wings, which is 46 feet long. A stream of gas and dust extends from an active area of the comet’s neck, about 10 miles away.
Rosetta
RELATIVE SIZE Rosetta’s wingspan of 105 feet is barely visible in this illustration of relative size. The comet and spacecraft are shown separated by about 6 miles.
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Panorama by The New York Times
OCT. 2 The neck of the comet.
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Panorama by The New York Times
SEPT. 30 Philae’s intended landing site, a relatively flat and boulder-free area on top of the comet’s head.
SEPT. 14 The comet’s head and Philae’s intended landing site are at upper right.
SEPT. 12 Philae’s backup landing site, on the comet’s body near the neck.
Panorama by The New York Times
SEPT. 7 The comet’s underbelly in shadow. The large boulder named Cheops is on the flat plain just left of center.
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SEPT. 5 The underside of the comet’s head is partially obscured by the comet’s body, at left.
Panorama by The New York Times
SEPT. 2 A clear view of the comet’s two-lobed structure.
AUG. 20 A white cross marks Philae’s intended landing site on the comet’s head.
AUG. 14 Looking down at the comet’s head, where Philae will attempt to land.
AUG. 13 The comet’s flat belly, from a distance of about 70 miles.
AUG. 11 Comet 67P/C-G, as seen by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope array.
Photo illustration by The New York Times
A COMET OVER BROADWAY The body of Comet 67P/C-G is about as long as Central Park.
Comet’s location when
Rosetta was launched
Rosetta launched
in March 2004
Sun
Mars
Earth
Rendezvous
with Comet
67P/C-G
Orbit of
Jupiter
Attempted
landing
CHASING A COMET Rosetta launched in 2004, made several loops through the inner solar system gathering speed and then spent years chasing down Comet 67P/C-G. The spacecraft arrived in August.
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