Hands-on at the exhibit

• See a scale model of Comet 67P’s nucleus.
• Transport yourself to the comet through virtual reality.
• Smell a comet!

Find out more

Comets are ancient visitors from the depths of space that formed when our Solar System was very young. The European Rosetta space mission is exploring Comet 67P in exquisite detail, teaching us about the conditions that existed when Earth and the other planets formed. Our exhibit will present the ground-breaking results from the mission, and share how the instruments aboard the Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander have enabled leaps in our understanding.

Rosetta has revealed Comet 67P to be a bizarre chunk of dusty ice, with a fascinating landscape of towering cliffs and smooth plains, from which jets of gas and dust erupt into space. The comet is a natural laboratory for a wealth of chemical and physical processes, detected by the orbiter and lander. By combining this data with images and spectra observed from Earth, we’re glimpsing the Solar System’s early history.

Find out more about the exhibit at cometrevealed.tumblr.com.

Presented by: UCL, Queen’s University Belfast, The Open University, Imperial College London, Queen Mary University of London, University of Kent, University of Oxford, University of Reading, European Space Agency, Vicon, SEPnet