Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2015

bottom), and from distances between 30 and 100 km. At that time the comet was between 363 million and 300 million km from the Sun. [ESA/Ro- setta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0] son to believe otherwise) it appears very unlikely that magnetic forces have played an important role in the aggregation of the solar system bodies on scales greater than one metre. At most they may have en- couraged the initiation of that process. This result achieved thanks to Philae (and others mentioned above) only furthers the disappointment for the forced standby of the small lander. But all is not lost, as for some time the technicians of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) ESA are trying to contact it via a radio link with Rosetta, in the hope that the progressive approach of the comet to the Sun will eventually allow the photovoltaic panels to gather sufficient light to recharge its batteries. The first at- tempt to establish a connection with Philae was made on 12 March, with a listening pe- riod that lasted for a week, without, how-