Template:POTD/2016-11-22
Picture of the day archives
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2016 November
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2016 November 21
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Picture of the day
A black-and-white photographic mosaic depicting the
comet
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
, as photographed by the probe
Rosetta
. This
Jupiter-family comet
, which was originally from the
Kuiper belt
, is about 4.3 km (2.7 mi) across, has a current
orbital period
of 6.45 years, a rotation period of approximately 12.4 hours, and a maximum velocity of 135,000 km/h (38 km/s; 84,000 mph). It was first observed on
photographic plates
in 1969 by Soviet astronomers
Klim Churyumov
and
Svetlana Gerasimenko
,
after whom it is named
.
Photograph:
ESA
/
Rosetta
/NAVCAM
Archive
–
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picture of the day
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.