First close-up of a comet nucleus (Giotto at Halley)
Núcleo cometario observado de cerca (Giotto en el Halley)
- Date
- 1986 · confidence high
- Place
- ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
- Credited to
- European Space Agency (Giotto mission), Vega 1 and 2 (USSR)
- Field
- Movement
What was discovered
Giotto photographed the nucleus of Halley's Comet: a dark, 15-km peanut-shaped body ejecting jets of gas and dust, confirming Whipple's 'dirty snowball' model.
Controlled from ESA's ESOC in Darmstadt.
What it led to
- Rosetta, Deep Impact and Stardust missions
- Comets as relics of the Solar System's formation