ESA Rosetta Probe Snaps Spectacular Comet 67/P Close-Ups

Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has returned some of the most detailed images yet of the comet it caught last month after a decade-long chase through deep space.

Rosetta snapped the four new comet photos, which mission scientists stitched into a single mosaic, on Sept. 19, at a distance of 17.7 miles (28.6 kilometers) from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The mosaic shows ridges on 67P's "neck" and many cliffs and boulders scattered across the comet's surface. Some of the photos overlap, so the same comet features can be seen in multiple images.

Rosetta spacecraft obtained this four-image NAVCAM mosaic of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with images taken on Sept. 19, 2014, when it was 18 miles (28.6 km) from the comet. 

Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM

Rosetta launched in March 2004 and finally caught up to 67P on Aug. 6 of this year, thus becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit a comet.

The probe has been taking photos and measurements of 67P ever since, allowing astronomers to construct the first map of the 2.5-mile-long (4 km) celestial object.

European Space Agency (ESA) researchers used a program called Microsoft ICE to stitch the four new Rosetta photos together.

A few areas on the left needed exposure adjustments, and the whole image's contrast was enhanced a little, ESA officials said.

Astronomers in Ukraine first spotted Comet 67P, which completes one lap around the sun every 6.5 years, in 1969.

The object is unusually dark for a comet, most of which are reflective and covered in ice; so far, astronomers haven't spotted any ice patches on 67P

Rosetta spacecraft produced this four-image montage of comet 67P/C-G, with images taken on Sept. 19, 2014. 

Black borders separate the images, and there is some overlap. 

 Credit: SA/Rosetta/NAVCAM

Achieving orbit around 67P was a cosmic first, and the Rosetta team plans to make some more history soon.

The mission plan calls for Rosetta to drop a lander called Philae down onto the comet on Nov. 11.

Philae will land on the smaller of 67P's two lobes to study the comet's surface and analyze its composition and atmosphere.

Philae also has a drill, which it will use to take samples.

ESA officials expect that Rosetta will fly with and study the comet until December 2015. They hope the mission provides insight into how comets change as they approach the sun.

ESA Rosetta: OSIRIS instrument maps comet 67/P

Several morphologically different regions are indicated in this preliminary map, which is oriented with the comet’s ‘body’ in the foreground and the ‘head’ in the background.

Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS /UPD /LAM /IAA /SSO /INTA /UPM /DASP /IDA

The map and new high-resolution images from the OSIRIS instrument were presented during the Rosetta special session at EPSC today.

With various areas dominated by cliffs, depressions, craters, boulders or even parallel grooves, 67P/C-G displays a multitude of different terrains. Some areas even appear to have been shaped by the comet’s activity.

This preliminary analysis provides the basis for a detailed scientific description of the comet’s surface, but a substantial amount of work involving more detailed OSIRIS images and data from other Rosetta instruments lies ahead to determine what each region represents in terms of their composition and evolution.

Jagged cliffs and prominent boulders are visible in this image taken by OSIRIS on 5 September 2014 from a distance of 62 kilometres from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. 

The left part of the image shows a side view of the comet’s 'body', while the right is the back of its 'head'. One pixel corresponds to 1.1 metres.

Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS /UPD /LAM /IAA /SSO /INTA /UPM /DASP /IDA

As both 67P/C-G and Rosetta travel closer to the Sun over the next months, the OSIRIS team will monitor the surface looking for changes.

While the scientists do not expect the borderlines of the comet’s regions to vary dramatically during this one passage around the Sun, more subtle transformations of the surface may nevertheless help to explain how cometary activity created such a breath-taking world.