Rare Glance at Dark Side of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

• Click the image above for a larger view
• Full-Res JPEG (2048 x 2048) (778.5 kB)
• Full-Res TIFF (2048 x 2048) (4.2 MB)

Caption:

This is a rare glance at the dark side of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Light backscattered from dust particles in the comet's coma reveals a hint of surface structures. This image was taken by OSIRIS, Rosetta's scientific imaging system, on Sept. 29, 2014 from a distance of approximately 11.8 miles (19 kilometers).

Background Info:

Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by the German Aerospace Center, Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen; French National Space Agency, Paris; and the Italian Space Agency, Rome. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the U.S. participation in the Rosetta mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on the U.S. instruments aboard Rosetta, visit http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov .

More information about Rosetta is available at http://www.esa.int/rosetta .

Cataloging Keywords: