Rosetta: studying comets

Taller than Japan’s Mount Fuji, comet 67P is being studied in detail by the orbiter. The comet’s distinctive complex shape present unique challenges and potential surprises for scientists but studying comets will help us understand the presence of water on Earth, the emergence of life on our planet and the formation of our solar system.

The video covers the origins of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the Kuiper Belt, the importance of carbon chemistry and the first known realistic image of a comet in Giotto’s Adoration of the Magi.

Scientists believe comets may have brought water and organic compounds to Earth. Water can be found a comet’s tail, the icy nucleus and as a vapour in the coma, while glycene - one of 22 amino acids in the human body - has also been discovered in a comet.

More about the Rosetta mission: http://rosetta.esa.int