Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2016

46 SMALL BODIES formed by exposure to ultraviolet light of water ice and which contains simple or- ganic molecules, like ammonia and me- thane. It has been also identified the pres- ence of phosphorus, a key component of DNA and cell membranes. On a global scale, the most interesting finding is per- haps the bi-lobed shape of the comet, whose characteristics suggest that the lobes were actually two different come- tary nuclei formed independently, which joined together as a result of a low speed collision occurred in very remote times. It has also been shown that the curious shape of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a role in moving the surface dust and in explaining the density and composition variations measured in the cometary coma. It is to be noted that these and other valu- able results were achieved over 786 days, in a very hostile environment, around and above an active comet while having to overcome sudden outbursts of gas and dust and make dangerous flybys close to its surface. Surprisingly, less than a month from the conclusion of the mission, Rosetta’s OSI- RIS camera also succeeded in photo- graphing the lander Philae, whose exact V iew photo- graphed by Rosetta on 30 Sep- tember at about 16 km from the com- et's surface. The im- age scale is 30 me- tres/pixel. [ESA/Ro- setta/MPS for OSI- RIS Team MPS/UPD/ LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/ UPM/DASP/IDA]