Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, affectionately nicknamed “Tchouri,” has just completed its closest approach to Earth in modern times. Now moving away from the Sun, it carries two historic human-made artifacts from the Rosetta mission aboard.
First discovered in 1969, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko—known as "Tchouri"—reached its nearest point to Earth on the night of Friday, November 12, to Saturday, November 13, around 1:50 a.m. French time. At that moment, positioned along a Martian orbital path, it was 62.8 million kilometers from our planet. Just nine days earlier, the comet had passed perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, at about 181 million kilometers.
Still bright enough for observation with amateur telescopes, Tchouri is now receding into the outer solar system. It will return for another close pass, but not until 2214—nearly two centuries from now. Astronomers and enthusiasts, observe it while you can: look near Pollux, the brightest star in Gemini.
Tchouri gained fame through the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe, launched on March 2, 2004. After a decade-long journey covering more than 500 million kilometers, Rosetta arrived on August 6, 2014, and deployed its lander, Philae, on November 12, 2014. Philae delivered humanity's first surface images from a comet.
The landing was eventful: Philae bounced twice on initial contact, missing the target site due to faulty harpoons meant to secure it. Wedged under a cliff, it lost solar power after two days and entered hibernation, briefly reactivating in June 2015 as the comet's orientation to the Sun improved.
Rosetta, meanwhile, orbited Tchouri for over two and a half years, conducting exhaustive surface and environmental analysis. Mission end came with a controlled descent onto the comet's surface.
Despite setbacks, the Rosetta-Philae mission has made Comet 67P the most thoroughly studied comet to date. Scientists continue to mine its vast dataset for insights into cometary origins and solar system history.
