A Cliff Looming on Comet 67P
Explanation:
What that looming behind this gravel-strewn hill on Comet ChuryumovGerasimenko?
A jagged cliff.
The unusual double-lobed nucleus of
Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko lends itself to unusual and dramatic vistas,
another of which has been captured by the
Rosetta spacecraft that
arrived at the comet last
September.
The
featured cometscape, taken last October and digitally enhanced, spans about
850 meters across.
Meanwhile, Comet ChuryumovGerasimenko continues to
sprout jets as it nears its closest approach to
the Sun in August.
Along the way,
Rosetta
will continue listening for signals from
Philae, a probe that landed on the nucleus but rebounded
to an unknown surface location last November.
If newly exposed to sunlight,
Philae might
regain
enough energy to again signal Rosetta.
Click Through the Universe:
Random APOD Generator
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
