ESA - Rosetta - First view of Earth as Rosetta approaches home

About Rosetta

Rosetta at a glance Europe's comet chaser Why 'Rosetta'?

About the spacecraft

The Rosetta orbiter Orbiter: Instruments The Rosetta lander Lander: Instruments

About the journey

The long trek Debris of the Solar System: Asteroids Asteroid (2867) Steins: a portrait Life and survival in deep space Long-distance communication The Rosetta ground segment

About the arrival

Comets - an introduction Comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko Comet rendezvous Giotto - ESA's first comet mission

Meet the team

Project Manager Project Scientist

Multimedia

VideoTalk 3D Flash 'model'Rosetta images Rosetta videos Rosetta Animations Rosetta wallpaper Life of a comet

Services

Frequently asked questions Comments

Article Images

First view of Earth as Rosetta approaches home

12 November 2009

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES PNG (Size: 210 kb)

Image of the Earth acquired with the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera from a distance of 633 000 km on 12 November 2009 at 13:28 CET.

The resolution is 12 km/pixel.

The image is a part of a sequence of images taken every hour through one full rotation (24 hours). The movie will be published later.

Three images with an orange, green, and blue filter were combined to create this one. The illuminated crescent is centered roughly around the South Pole (South at the bottom of the image). The outline of Antarctica is visible under the clouds that form the striking south-polar vortex. Pack ice in front of the coastline with its strong spectacular reflection is the cause for the very bright spots on the image.

Credits: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA