Gigglebit: Rosetta's close encounter with comet 67P (photo)
by Tina Costanza
The Rosetta spacecraft casts a shadow on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 14 February. ImagesESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA via
Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic's daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note.
Today we're sharing an image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) of the shadow of the Rosetta spacecraft on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured the image just 6km from the comet's surface on 14 February.
Rosetta's shadow, the ESA said, measures roughly 20 metres x 50 metres.
The image reveals details of the rocky surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in unprecedented detail, the ESA added, in particular "a mesh of steep slopes" that separate smooth-looking terrains from a more craggy area.
Here is the photo in its entirety:
Related: Rosetta, stargazing, ESA, photosets, Gigglebit
Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic
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