ESA posted a photo of "boulder" on the surface of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The Philae probe landing day on the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko is getting closer, the dates are November 12, it is on this day that the landing will take place, many are waiting. Nevertheless, very active work is being done now, the interplanetary station Rosetta constantly photographs the comet, carries out various measurements, and sends the data obtained to Earth.

Unlike NASA, the European Space Agency publishes many photos with a big delay. For example, one of the most interesting photographs of the comet's surface, taken from a distance of 28.5 km, was laid out just now. This photograph is remarkable in that it has many details of the comet's surface, including a conglomerate of huge boulders.
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Boulders in general would be of little interest to anyone if they were not formations on a comet, and these formations are very large. The boulder, which is visible in the announcement photos, has a size of approximately 45 meters. This object in the photo seems to be a boulder; rather, this formation can be called a rock. Probably, this photo is one of the first where the surface of the comet can be seen so well.

A conglomerate of boulders reminded scientists of the Egyptian pyramids, and the largest of them - the pyramid of Cheops. The rock in question was named Cheops (this pharaoh, also known as Khufu, lived in 2550 BC).

In general, the members of the Rosetta mission have now agreed on the principle of naming new objects - they will be called using the names of famous Egyptian rulers, priests, gods, and other figures.

Cheops (this time referring to a boulder) was first seen in August photography, when Rosette only approached the comet. After some time, the station was able to take very good photos from a closer distance (the OSIRIS tool was used - by the way, this abbreviation coincides with the name of one of the most famous Egyptian gods), the photo resolution is 50 centimeters per pixel.


The photo was taken on August 6, from a distance of 130 kilometers.

Boulder-shaped objects, in general, are characteristic of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, they were found in many places. But Cheops stands out among other objects of this kind: it is a “loner”, and its color is lighter than that of other “boulders”, and lighter than the surface of a comet.

Now astronomers are trying to understand what the "boulders" are. What are they made of? What are their physical properties, including density? How did they come about? Hopefully, over time, scientists will get answers to all these questions, and after them we will already receive complete information about the comet, its structure and origin.

It is worth recalling that today Rosette will approach the comet at a distance of 10 kilometers.

Via esa