Pic of The Year: Rosetta selfie at 16 km

Meeting of species: human made robot and Space made rock
Using the CIVA camera on Rosetta’s Philae lander, the spacecraft snapped a ‘selfie’ at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko from a distance of about 16 km from the surface of the comet. The image was taken on 7 October and captures the side of the Rosetta spacecraft and one of Rosetta’s 14 m-long solar wings, with the comet in the background.u2028Two images with different exposure times were combined to bring out the faint details in this very high contrast situation. The comet’s active ‘neck’ region is clearly visible, with streams of dust and gas extending away from the surface.u2028