Rosetta reveals a complex comet

‘Dirty snowball’ model dashed by images of diverse terrain

Comet 67P

CRAGGY COMET  A pit (left) carved by gas jets and a 900-meter-high cliff (right) rising out of a band of smooth dust show the diverse terrain on comet 67P in this image from Rosetta.

ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0)

It’s time to stop thinking of comets as dirty snowballs.