ESA's Rosetta landed on a comet today. Here are some pictures sent back.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanspaceagency/sets/72157638315605535/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanspaceagency/sets/72157638315605535/
What a comet looks like from the surface
- Thread starter Spinward Scout
- Start date
Barsanuphius
SOC-12
A small few astronomers have been referring to them as long period ice asteroids for some time; this gives credence to that labeling.
I'm not surprised, but I am happy that the mission's being a success. Note that the primary mission's only 3 days long...
saundby
SOC-14 1K
The cameras are capable of multispectral images, both ÇIVA and ROLIS. I am more familiar with ROLIS, which has its own multispectral light source, 4 wavelengths, to allow mineral analysis of the surface.
As to what you're seeing--these are the 'rushes', initial images lightly processed to produce something for public consumption with some scientific value but mostly useful for getting operational information. More data will be produced from further analysis, so stay tuned. Right now everyone's really busy gathering data, which is a rather intense planning exercise at this point, managing the comms, power, and schedule while trying to get enough of a first look at collected data to put plans in order for the next rotation.
Also, light levels are very low, the surface material is very dark. 67P is about 3AU from the sun. So there's not much to see in real color, it's so black that images have to be heavily processed to bring out any detail at all.
In time, we'll see some false-color images, though.
As to what you're seeing--these are the 'rushes', initial images lightly processed to produce something for public consumption with some scientific value but mostly useful for getting operational information. More data will be produced from further analysis, so stay tuned. Right now everyone's really busy gathering data, which is a rather intense planning exercise at this point, managing the comms, power, and schedule while trying to get enough of a first look at collected data to put plans in order for the next rotation.
Also, light levels are very low, the surface material is very dark. 67P is about 3AU from the sun. So there's not much to see in real color, it's so black that images have to be heavily processed to bring out any detail at all.
In time, we'll see some false-color images, though.
Ran Targas
SOC-14 1K
Where's the half-buried alien spacecraft? No alien slime creatures? What a disappointment 
Where's the half-buried alien spacecraft? No alien slime creatures? What a disappointment
That's because the image you are seeing is the false one that is being generated and sent back by the aliens. We'll see more detail when the comet alters course for a rendezvous with Earth-orbit.
Where's the half-buried alien spacecraft? No alien slime creatures? What a disappointment
I was really hoping for a naked Mathilda May.
