The European Space Agency (ESA) said it's finally chosen a landing site on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on which the Rosetta probe's Philae lander will touch down.

The Rosetta probe was in deep space for 10 years chasing the comet. It caught up with the comet last month.

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Since then, ESA scientists have been busy trying to figure out the safest landing site for Philae on the oddly and irregularly shaped comet.

The site isn't ideal, according to the ESA team. But after an important meeting with France's space agency, Centre National D'études Spatiales (CNES) held at Toulouse over the weekend, a unanimous vote was given to land Philae on Site J.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's topography consists of an odd shape similar to a rubber duck about. It's 2.5 miles across its longest point.

Next year, the Rosetta probe will continue to follow the comet as the comet re-enters the solar system and zips through the Sun's orbit.

Philae will help scientists further study the comet. Rosetta has captured photos of the comet's terrain that show steep slopes and deep crevices, obviously not great landing sites for Philae.

But the reason why scientists chose Site J was because its shallow slopes are relatively safer and will help prevent Philae from falling and toppling over as it lands on the comet.

It will take about seven hours for Philae to land on Site J, said the Landing Site Selection Group. Philae will anchor itself on the comet by drilling into the surface with ice screws as soon as it makes its landing on November 11.

Other benefits of Site J include a daily dose of enough light to recharge the lander's batteries to full power and an advantageous straightforward trajectory for the landing.

Philae will help scientists further study the terrain and topography of the comet. ESA scientists are interested in the comet's icy core and believe data from the core could help unlock some hidden truth about the solar system's early formation. 

Comets believed to be ancient relics from the formation of the solar system.

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