APOD: 2020 January 27 - Comet CG Evaporates

Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Comet CG Evaporates." The European Space Alliance (ESA) launched the Rosetta spacecraft in March 2004. Rosetta rendezvoused with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Comet CG) in August 2014 and remained in close proximity to the nucleus as it plunged towards the warmer inner reaches of the Sun’s domain. In November 2014, a small lander was released onto the surface of this mysterious world. Rosetta continued to study all aspects of the comet and its environment until mission end in September 2016.

This February 2015 picture shows plumes of gas and dust escaping numerous places from Comet CG's nucleus as it neared the Sun and heated up. Analyses conducted by Rosetta indicate the comet loses about a meter of radius during each of its 6.44-year orbits around the Sun due to evaporation. Given its current size (4 kilometers), Comet CG will disappear completely in about 25,000 years.