What does a comet actually look like?

Ever wondered what a comet looks like up close - real close?

Like this:



Yesterday, NASA's EPOXI spacecraft flew just 700 kilometres from the comet Hartley 2. It is about 2.2 kilometres long and with a mass of about 280 million metric tonnes, is composed of ice, carbon dioxide and silicate dust particles.

And as the photo seems to indicate, is kind of shiny...

EPOXI has covered 4.6 billion kilometres (yes that's billion!) over 2.5 years playing catch-up with the comet - itself a heck of a feat.

Via Cosmos.