NASA’s Rosetta spacecraft took a memorable selfie on October 7, 2014, capturing a unique perspective of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At the time of the photograph, the spacecraft was approximately 472 million kilometers from Earth and just 16 kilometers from the comet’s surface. The image showcases dust and gas streaming away from the comet’s distinct double-lobed nucleus, with sunlight reflecting off one of Rosetta’s solar arrays, which measures 14 meters in length.
The selfie was created using the CIVA camera system mounted on Rosetta’s Philae lander, which was still attached to the orbiter at the time of the shot. To achieve the dramatic high-contrast effect seen in the image, two exposures—one short and one long—were combined. The selected landing site for Philae was located on the visible hemisphere of the smaller lobe of the comet’s nucleus.
This selfie marked the final image taken by Philae’s camera before it separated from Rosetta on November 12, 2014. Following the separation, the lander captured another image looking back at the orbiter as it began its descent toward the comet’s surface.
The Rosetta mission, managed by the European Space Agency, has provided unprecedented insights into cometary science since its launch in 2004.
Tomorrow’s picture: dark matters
