Premium accounts now available! Sign up and create a premium account. Read more Scientific Today
Sign in to personalize your content feed, follow keywords and sources you care about, bookmark content you like, and join the conversation by sharing your recommendations and comments.
Sign in with LinkedIn Sign in with Google
You can also sign in with your account. Don't have an account yet? Sign up
Advertisement
News - public release Created on 24 Oct 2026 National Aeronautics and Space Administration
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 24 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Rosetta’s Selfie Explanation: […]
APODAPOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Rosetta’s Selfie
Explanation: This Rosetta spacecraft selfie was snapped on October 7th, 2014. At the time the comet-chasing spacecraft was about 472 million kilometers from planet Earth, but only 16 kilometers from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Looming beyond the spacecraft near the top of the frame, dust and gas stream away from the comet’s curious double-lobed nucleus. Bright sunlight glints off one of Rosetta’s 14 meter long solar arrays. In fact, two exposures, one short and one long, were combined to record the dramatic high contrast scene using the CIVA camera system on Rosetta’s still-attached Philae lander. Its chosen primary landing site was on the visible hemisphere of the smaller lobe of the nucleus. This was the last image from Philae’s camera before the lander separated from Rosetta on November 12. Shortly after separation Philae took another image looking back toward the orbiter and began its descent to the nucleus of the comet.
Tomorrow’s picture: dark matters
Date October 24, 2026 Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA Authors & editors: Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
Advertisement
Advertisement