Haven’t had a Rosetta update in a good long while. I’ll post a few images here, but highly recommend people go to the site and look at all the recent goodies on offer.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Missions/Rosetta/(class)/image?mission=Rosetta&type=I

Comet landscape from 23 July 2016 – OSIRIS narrow-angle camera

High Res view of above image

Comet landscape from 18 July 2016 – NavCam

Comet landscape from 16 July 2016 – OSIRIS narrow-angle camera

High Res view of above image

Profile of a primordial comet

Evidence that Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is composed of ancient material preserved from the formation of the early Solar System and that came together under low speed. The evidence collected by Rosetta lies in the comet’s structural properties, the gases detected leaving the nucleus, and observations of surface features.

Profile of a primordial comet

Rosetta’s final destination

On 30 September 2016, Rosetta will end its mission with a controlled impact on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The spacecraft will target Ma’at, a region hosting some active pits on the small comet lobe. This region has been chosen for its scientific potential and taking into account key operational constraints involved in executing the descent.

The image was taken with Rosetta’s NavCam on 21 September 2014.

Amazing photos.
I was curious as to the scale of them, as some of them appeared to be up quite close.
But using this one as an example –

-> “OSIRIS wide-angle camera image taken on 16 July 2016, when Rosetta was 9.3 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The scale is 0.16 m/pixel at the comet and the image measures about 330 m.”

Much, much further out than it first appears.

Spiny Norman said:

Amazing photos.
I was curious as to the scale of them, as some of them appeared to be up quite close.
But using this one as an example –

-> “OSIRIS wide-angle camera image taken on 16 July 2016, when Rosetta was 9.3 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The scale is 0.16 m/pixel at the comet and the image measures about 330 m.”

Much, much further out than it first appears.

bigger pebbles than you imagined?

Spiny Norman said:

Amazing photos.
I was curious as to the scale of them, as some of them appeared to be up quite close.
But using this one as an example –

-> “OSIRIS wide-angle camera image taken on 16 July 2016, when Rosetta was 9.3 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The scale is 0.16 m/pixel at the comet and the image measures about 330 m.”

Much, much further out than it first appears.

fractal in nature.

Face it, if you took your kids there for a holiday they’d be bored in an hour.

ChrispenEvan said:

fractal in nature.

Yes, stones on every scale. It’s a beautiful mess, and evidence of relatively gentle accretion and outgassing processes. In contrast, the moon is much more violently pulverised.

> Haven’t had a Rosetta update in a good long while. I’ll post a few images here, but highly recommend people go to the site and look at all the recent goodies on offer.

Totally agree. Now that 67P has moved away from the Sun and stopped out-gassing, Rosetta has been able to move up much closer.

> On 30 September 2016, Rosetta will end its mission with a controlled impact on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Why?

> OSIRIS wide-angle camera image taken on 16 July 2016, when Rosetta was 9.3 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The scale is 0.16 m/pixel at the comet and the image measures about 330 m. Much, much further out than it first appears.

0.16 m/pixel is pretty darn close in my book. I can’t think of any other spacecraft able to get that resolution. For example Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) only gets 2 m/pixel.

> Face it, if you took your kids there for a holiday they’d be bored in an hour.

Well, yes.