Tag Archive for 'Rosetta'

This false-color four-image mosaic comprises images taken from a distance of 28.7 km from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 3 February 2015. The mosaic measures 4.2 x 4.6 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Study: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s Water Has Similar Molecular Signature to Earth’s Water

Dec 4, 2024 by NASA

Contradicting the results of several recent studies, the new findings reopen the case that Jupiter-family comets like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko could have...

This false-color image of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by the Rosetta navigation camera on 15 June 2015 from a distance of 207 km from the comet center. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Solid Phosphorus and Fluorine Detected in Coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Nov 27, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser (COSIMA) instrument on board ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, researchers have detected phosphorus and fluorine...

Rosetta NavCam image taken on 14 March 2015 at 85.7 km from the center of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; it has been cleaned to remove the more obvious bad pixels and cosmic ray artefacts, and intensities have been scaled. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Ultraviolet Aurora Spotted on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Sep 21, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from several instruments aboard ESA’s Rosetta mission, researchers have found evidence of far-ultraviolet aurora on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This...

Philae at work on the comet. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

Study: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s Interior is Less Dense than Its Surface

Sep 7, 2020 by News Staff

A new analysis of data gathered by the CONSERT (Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radio wave Transmission) instrument, a radar onboard ESA’s Rosetta...

This infographic shows the key results from a study that has revealed the interstellar thread of phosphorus. The background of the infographic shows a part of the night sky in the constellation of Auriga, where the star-forming region AFGL 5142 is located. The ALMA image of this object is on the top left of the infographic, and one of the locations where the team found phosphorus-bearing molecules is indicated by a circle. The most common phosphorus-bearing molecule in AFGL 5142 is phosphorus monoxide, represented in orange and red in the diagram on the bottom left. Another molecule found was phosphorus nitride, represented in orange and blue. The astronomers also found phosphorus monoxide on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, shown on the bottom right. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Rivilla et al / L. Calçada / ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / Mario Weigand, www.SkyTrip.de.

Astronomers Trace Journey of Phosphorus from Stellar Nurseries to Solar System Comets

Jan 15, 2020 by News Staff

To understand how molecules containing phosphorus — one of life’s building blocks — are formed in star-forming regions, a team of astronomers...

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and Churymoon (circled). Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS / OSIRIS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / J. Roger.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Had Tiny, Temporary Moon

Aug 14, 2019 by News Staff

Astrophotographer Jacint Roger has spotted a small object in a sequence of images of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken by ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft on October...

These 210 images reflect Rosetta’s ever-changing view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko between July 2014 and September 2016. The sequence begins in the month leading up to Rosetta’s arrival on August 6, 2014, when the comet was barely a few pixels in the field of view. Suddenly, the curious shape was revealed and Rosetta raced to image its surface, coming within 10 km, to find a suitable place for Philae to land just three months later. Philae’s landing is featured with the ‘farewell’ images taken by both spacecraft of each other shortly after separation, and by Philae as it drew closer to the surface at its first touchdown point. An image taken at the final landing site is also shown. The subsequent images, taken by Rosetta, reflect the varying distance from the comet as well as the comet’s rise and fall in activity as they orbited the Sun. Before the comet reached its most active phase in August 2015, Rosetta was able to make some close flybys, including one in which the lighting geometry from the Sun was such that the spacecraft’s shadow could be seen on the surface. Then, owing to the increase of dust in the local environment, Rosetta had to maintain a safer distance and carry out scientific observations from afar, but this also gave some impressive views of the comet’s global activity, including jets and outburst events. Once the activity began to subside, Rosetta could come closer again and conduct science nearer to the nucleus, including capturing more high-resolution images of the surface, and looking out for changes after this active period. Eventually, as the comet returned to the colder outer Solar System, so the available solar power to operate Rosetta fell. The mission concluded with Rosetta making its own dramatic descent to the surface on September 30, 2016. A selection of the final images taken are reflected in the last images shown in this montage. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NavCam / MPS for OSIRIS Team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / Philae / CIVA / ROLIS / DLR.

OSIRIS Team Releases Nearly 70,000 Images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Apr 18, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Between 2014 and 2016, the OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera onboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft captured almost...

An artist’s impression of the infant bow shock detected by ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Image credit: ESA.

Rosetta Detects Signs of Infant ‘Bow Shock’ at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Dec 26, 2018 by News Staff

The ‘bow shock’ is the first boundary the solar wind encounters as it approaches planets or comets. From 2014 to 2016, ESA’s Rosetta orbiter studied...

This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14. Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colors, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Is Pluto ‘an Agglomeration of a Billion Comets’?

May 28, 2018 by News Staff

Planetary researchers working with data from NASA’s New Horizons and ESA’s Rosetta missions have developed a new theory for the formation of the dwarf...

Artist’s impression of a comet. Image credit: DLR / CC-BY 3.0.

Cometary Ice and Organics are Mostly Older than Our Solar System, Rosetta Scientists Say

Oct 31, 2017 by News Staff

Analysis of data from ESA’s Rosetta mission continues to yield insights into the nature of cometary ice and organics. Artist’s impression of a comet....

A final image from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, shortly before it made a controlled impact onto Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on September 30, 2016, was reconstructed from residual telemetry. The image measures about 1 m across. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

ESA’s Rosetta Team Reconstructs Probe’s Final Image

Oct 10, 2017 by News Staff

Rosetta’s final image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by the probe shortly before its controlled impact into the comet’s surface on September...

Freon-40 discovered by ALMA around the infant stars in the IRAS 16293-2422 system. Image credit: B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF / NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA.

Freon-40 Detected around Protostars and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Oct 6, 2017 by News Staff

Using data gathered by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA)...

Showcase of the different types of changes identified in high-resolution images of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko during more than two years of monitoring by ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft. The approximate locations of each feature are marked on the central context images. Dates of when the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images were taken are also indicated. Note that the orientation and resolution between image pairs may vary, therefore in each image set arrows point to the location of the changes, for guidance. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / MPS for OSIRIS Team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Spectacular Changes Spotted on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Mar 22, 2017 by News Staff

A study published this week in the journal Science summarizes the types of surface changes — including the growing fractures, collapsing cliffs,...

A broad plume of dust is imaged by Rosetta’s navigation camera on July 10, 2015, which can be traced back to an area on the comet that encompasses the Seth region; the Aswan cliff is included within the marked rectangle. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NavCam / MPS / MPS for OSIRIS Team / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Collapsing Cliff Reveals Pristine Interior of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Mar 22, 2017 by News Staff

In a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers make the first definitive link between an outburst of dust and gas from the nucleus of...

Farewell, Rosetta! ESA’s Spacecraft Crashes into Comet

Sep 30, 2016 by News Staff

ESA’s Rosetta mission has concluded as planned, with the controlled impact onto Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. An artist’s impression of Rosetta...

Rosetta orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

ESA’s Rosetta Orbiter to Crash Land into Comet: Watch Live

Sep 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Rosetta orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab. ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft is set to complete its mission in a controlled...

Rosetta Finds Solid Organic Matter in Dust Particles from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Sep 8, 2016 by News Staff

ESA’s Rosetta orbiter has made the first unambiguous detection of solid organic matter in dust grains ejected by comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This...

Close-up of the Philae comet lander, imaged by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on September 2 from a distance of 1.7 miles (2.7 km). Several of the lander’s instruments are identified, including one of the CIVA panoramic imaging cameras, the SD2 drill and SESAME-DIM (Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment Dust Impact Monitor). Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / OSIRIS Team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

Philae Comet Lander Finally Found

Sep 5, 2016 by News Staff

ESA’s Rosetta orbiter has spotted Philae hidden in a dark crack on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Philae has been identified in Rosetta’s...

This dramatic outburst from the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko occured on February 19, 2016. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.

ESA’s Rosetta Orbiter Captures Outburst from Nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Aug 25, 2016 by News Staff

In February 2016, nine instruments onboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft serendipitously observed an outburst of gas and dust from the Atum region on Comet...

The Rosetta spacecraft has detected ingredients considered important for life as we know it on Earth, in the atmosphere of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab / Rosetta / NavCam / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 / Kathrin Altwegg et al.

Rosetta Detects Two Ingredients for Life on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

May 27, 2016 by News Staff

ESA’s Rosetta orbiter has detected volatile glycine and phosphorus in the fuzzy atmosphere of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The Rosetta spacecraft...

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