The Egyptian map of comet 67P

Twenty-six regions named for gods and goddesses, a 45-metre “pyramid” boulder and a surface that changed while we watched.

Published 2026-10-23

When scientists needed names for the landscapes of comet 67P, they picked a theme that fit a mission named after the Rosetta Stone: ancient Egypt.^[2]

Gods on one lobe, goddesses on the other

The surface is divided into 26 distinct regions. Those on the larger lobe are named after Egyptian gods; those on the smaller lobe after goddesses.^[2] Nineteen regions were mapped in the northern hemisphere before equinox. When the comet’s southern hemisphere tilted into sunlight, seven more were defined using the same rule.^[2]

Cheops

The largest boulder on the comet, up to 45 m across, sits on the big lobe. It was named Cheops because its shape recalls the pyramid at Giza.^[2]

Why two lobes get two themes

Splitting the names makes sense physically too. 67P is a contact binary, and the layers exposed on the two lobes are oriented differently — evidence that they were once separate bodies.^[2][6]

A map that would not sit still

Comet maps age quickly. Near perihelion in 2015, observers watched circular features in smooth terrain grow by a few metres per day, a fracture in the neck lengthen, and boulders tens of metres wide move, sometimes more than 100 m. Patches of ground were stripped away to reveal new features.^[2]

A high-resolution shape model built from thousands of camera images has since been used to study cavities 20 to 47 m deep that give direct access to the subsurface.^[2]

Numbered citations link to the sources list on the 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko overview page.