Rosetta: When can we see the comet?

Visualisation of how comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will appear in Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow angle camera between May and August 2014. During this time, the 4 kilometre-wide comet will ’grow’ in Rosetta’s field of view from appearing to have a diameter of less than 1 camera pixel to well over 2000 pixels -- equivalent to a resolution of around 2 metres per pixel -- allowing the large surface features to be resolved. The comet featured in this animation is an artist’s impression. It is shown to scale,