The surface of a comet in images from the Rosetta probe mission
The Rosetta probe, which ended its life in 2016, made its presence known once again. A short video showing what the surface of comet 67P/Churiumov-Gersimenko looks like is gaining popularity on the web.
The Rosetta mission began in 2004. It was carried out as part of the Horizon 2000 space exploration program conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) since 1984. Its purpose was to conduct research to helpóc understand the mysteries of the Solar System and, above all, learn more about the origin of comets and their significance for the formation of our planetary system.
In November 2014, the Rosetta probe launched the Philae lander, whichóry safely, albeit with adventures (the lander bounced off the comet’s surface twice), settled on the comet. On September 30, 2016, the probe made a controlled impact on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gersimenko.
However, the Rosetta probe does not let us forget about ourselves. One of the usersóin Twitter – landru79 – assembled images from Rosetta, or more precisely from the Philae lander, freely available online for some time. In this wayób was created krótkie footage from the surface of comet 67P/Churiumov-Gierasimienko, whichóre rapidly gaining popularity.
„Snowflake”, który can be seen in the photos, is not a real snowfall as we experience on Earth. The effect is created by backlit dust particlesów passing nearby cameras. Cosmic radiation rócan also create this type of „hype” in the images.
In contrast, the bright spots visible in the background, które they seem to fall and disappear behind a cliff, they are stars. They look as if they are falling, as the comet rotates wokół its own axis, orbiting the Sun every 6.5 years.
#ROSETTA . OSIRIS #67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO new albums . –ROSETTA EXTENSION 2 MTP030– Miércoles 1 Junio 2016 all filters stacked pic.twitter.com/Bf173Z5g79
— landru79 (@landru79) April 23, 2018
According to the author’s words, the first photo in the edited video was taken on June 1, 2016 just after 1 pm. The last frame is a photograph taken at 1:25 pm on the same day. The footage has been heavily sped up and everything appears to be moving much faster than it actually is.
Landru79 announced that in their next project they will use the color information, whichóre Rosetta sent home. In this wayób will produce color footage.
The cost of the Rosetta mission, including the construction of the probe, lander, research instruments, launch costs and operational costs was about 1.4 billion euros. Over 12 years, the probe has traveled six billionów kilometerów while collecting huge amounts of data on comets and other objects in space.
