67P as you've never seen it before: Rosetta probe takes stunning close up images of the comet from just four miles away
- Valentine's day swoop was the first dedicated close flyby of the mission
- Imaged boulders range in size from a few metres to a few tens of metres
- The sun was directly behind Rosetta, providing optimal light conditions
High-resolution
images taken by the Rosetta probe during a Valentine's Day flyby reveal
comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in unprecedented detail.
The
images reveal boulders on the comet's surface, as well as 'stunning
details of the contrasting terrain,' the European Space Agency said.
The
boulders in these images range in size from a few metres to a few tens
of metres, and lay scattered across the comet's surface.
A four-image montage of Comet
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko comprising images taken on 14 February 2015
during the first dedicated close flyby. This image set was taken at
10:32 GMT from a distance of 7.8 miles (12.6 km) from the comet centre.
Using the surface distance, the image scale is 0.9 m/pixel
To
take the images, Rosetta passed within just four miles (6 km) of the
surface of the comet in the first dedicated close flyby of the mission.
The sun was directly behind Rosetta as the pictures were taken, providing optimal light conditions.
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The closest approach took place at 12:41 GMT over the Imhotep region on the comet's large lobe.
Rosetta's
parting shot following the close flyby features the comet's small lobe
at the top of the image, with the larger lobe in the lower portion of
the image set.
A closeup of the comet shows the
surface's crags or ice and rock and the smooth layers of dust. The sun
was directly behind Rosetta as the pictures were taken, providing
optimal light conditions. To take the images, Rosetta passed within just
four miles (6 km) of the surface of the comet in the first dedicated
close flyby
As
well as providing the opportunity to take close-up high-resolution
images of the comet surface, flybys like this also allow Rosetta's
instruments to sample the innermost parts of the comet's atmosphere, or
coma.
Rosetta
is now moving out for a far view of the comet – it will reach a
distance of about 160 miles (255km) from the comet centre tomorrow.
Earlier this week, Nasa said the structure of Comet 67P resembles ice cream.
In
an experiment, they found that while the exterior of a comet is encased
in a hard, outer crust, the interior would mostly be fluffy ice.
Rosetta's parting shot following the
close flyby features the comet's small lobe at the top of the image,
with the larger lobe in the lower portion of the image set
'A
comet is like deep fried ice cream,' said Dr Murthy Gudipati of Nasa's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, corresponding author
of a recent study appearing in the Journal of Physical Chemistry.
'The
crust is made of crystalline ice, while the interior is colder and more
porous. The organics are like a final layer of chocolate on top.'
To come to the conclusion, astronomers used an icebox-like instrument nicknamed Himalaya.
They
showed that fluffy ice on the surface of a comet would crystallise and
harden as the comet heads towards the sun and warms up.
The
composition of comets is important to understanding how they might have
delivered water and organics to the young, hot Earth.
New
results from the Rosetta mission show that asteroids may have been the
primary carriers of life's ingredients; however, the debate is ongoing
and comets may have played a role.
New results from the
Rosetta mission show that asteroids may have been the primary carriers
of life's ingredients; however, the debate is ongoing and comets may
have played a role. This image set was taken at 4:32 GMT from a distance
of 22 miles (35km)
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