Follow 67P/Chur yumov-Gerasimenko as it crosses from Gemini into Cancer

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is the comet made famous by ESA’s spectacular Rosetta mission. This month it can be found passing from Gemini into Cancer. At 00:00 UT on 1 November, 67P is located 2° southwest of mag. +3.8 Iota (ι) Geminorum, and predicted to appear at integrated magnitude +10.7. On the night of 3/4 November it passes approximately one degree south of Iota Geminorum heading east. It lies 40 arcminutes southwest of mag. +4.1 Upsilon (υ) Geminorum at 00:00 UT on 5 November, and southeast of the star by a similar distance at 00:00 UT on the 6th. At 00:00 UT on 8 November it lies 1.6° south of Pollux (Beta (β) Geminorum). The comet then passes close to mag. 5.0 Phi (φ) Geminorum on the nights of 9/10 and 10/11 November, and 30 arcminutes south of mag. +5.1 Chi (χ) Cancri on 18/19 November. 67P can be found 2° south of mag. +4.0 Iota (ι) Cancri during the morning of the 30th. The comet remains at a fairly constant brightness throughout the month and is predicted to dim marginally to mag. +10.9 by its end.

67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. This is a class of periodic comets with orbital periods less than 20 years, and orbital inclinations of less than 30°. Its orbit takes it out as far as 5.63 AU from the Sun at aphelion and in as close as 1.243 AU at perihelion. The next perihelion occurs on 2 November.

The comet was discovered by Klim Ivanovich Churyumov while examining a photo taken by Svetlana Ivanovna Gerasimenko on 11 September 1969.

Read more about 67P Rosetta in our feature.