It was the hottest news in astronomy in 2014 – the arrival of Rosetta and the landing of Philae on comet 67P stole the show.
The scientists behind the amazing mission are busy analysing the data acquired so far. We are now waiting to see if Philae can be roused from its slumber as the comet’s approach to the Sun brings warmer conditions.
Comet 67P as seen by Rosetta on 16 January 2015 [credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM]
In the meantime, we’ll have to make do with stunning images like the one above, released yesterday by ESA. Taken by Rosetta’s NAVCAM on 16 January, it is a mosaic of four images stitched together. The probe was just 28.4 kilometres from the centre of the comet at the time.
With upcoming arrivals at Ceres and Pluto, this won’t be the last stunning image we’ll see of the smaller constituents of the solar system this year.