Astronomy Picture of the Day
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2014 August 19
Contrasting Terrains on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Image Credit:
ESA /
Rosetta / MPS for
OSIRIS Team;
MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Explanation:
Where should
Philae land?
As ESA's robotic
spacecraft Rosetta circles toward
Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a decision must eventually be made as to where its mechanical lander should attempt to touch-down.
Reaching the comet earlier this month,
Rosetta is sending back detailed pictures of the
comet's unusual nucleus from which a smooth landing site will be selected.
Pictured above,
near the image top, the head of the comet's nucleus shows rugged
grooves, while near the image bottom, the body shows a patch-work of
areas sometimes separated by
jagged hills.
Some of the patch-work areas apparent on both the
head and body seem
to have fields of relatively smooth terrain.
In the connecting area called the neck, however, visible across the
image center, a relatively large swath of light-colored smooth terrain
appears, punctuated occasionally by
large boulders.
Rosetta is scheduled to release
Philae toward the
dark mountain-sized
comet nucleus with an anticipated landing date in November.
Tomorrow's picture: interstellar tornados
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(
MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (
UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
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