La Cometa 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko el il contributo degli astrofili italiani alla missione ROSETTA

Abstract

Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the new target of the ROSETTA spacecraft, was oberved during the 2002/2003 apparition, displacing an unusual tail. The tail was compatible with a neck-line structure and this implies a high nuclear activity far before perihelion. Images and data from the current and previous apparitions show that the comet reaches the maximum brightening after the perihelion passage (Af[rho] = 200-250 cm).