A mysterious 'pyramid' has been spotted on the surface of a comet that scientists are hoping will unlock the secrets to how Earth formed. The strange structure was discovered by the Rosetta probe as it orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 297 million miles (478 million km) from Earth. At around 82ft-tall (25 metres), the structure is one of the larger boulders seen on the comet and could help scientists better understand its history. Scroll down for video Boulder Cheops, taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera on 19 September , from a distance of 17.7 miles (28.5km) The 'pyramid' stood out among a group of boulders on the lower side of 67P/C-G's larger lobe – an area that has reminded scientists of the famous pyramids at Giza near Cairo in Egypt.
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Structure is one of the comet's larger boulders seen by Rosetta
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It could help scientists better understand how the comet formed
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It is in a region that reminded scientists of the pyramids at Giza
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Esa has named the structure Cheops, after the largest of those pyramids, the Great Pyramid, which was for the pharaoh Cheops in 2550 BC
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On November 11, Rosetta will send Philae probe to comet's surface
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Scientists hope the spider-like probe will send back data that could answer questions on the origin of Earth's water and perhaps even life
Last month a 2.4 mile-wide (4km) region on the 'head' of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was revealed as the spot for the daring landing of Rosetta's @placeholder probe.