Further OSIRIS images from Rosetta Earth swing-by

During its 10 year cruise to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft performs four planetary (3 times Earth, once Mars) and 2 asteroid flybys. After the successful Mars swing-by in Feb. 2007, the second Earth swing-by took place in the evening of Nov. 13.

The scientific camera system OSIRIS, built by an European consortium lead by MPS, observed the earth during the swing-by of the Rosetta spacecraft.

Figure 1: The scientific camera system OSIRIS observed the earth night side during the swing by of the Rosetta spacecraft. The left hand side of the image shows a simulated view of the Earth as seen from the position of Rosetta. The right hand view shows the same view as seem by the OSIRIS Wide Angle Camera (WAC). The WAC image is shows as a false color image to emphasize the city lights. The OSIRIS image was acquired 13/11-2007 19:30 UTC using the WAC red filter.

(Image: ESA ©2007 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

Figure 2: After the closest approach with the Earth Rosetta looked back towards the Earth and took a number of images using the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera (NAC). The image is a color composite of the NAC Orange, Green and Blue filters. The landmass seen on the bottom of the image is Australia. The OSIRIS image was acquired 15/11-2007 02:30 UTC.

(Image: ESA ©2007 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

Contact

Dr. Horst Uwe Keller
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung
Max-Planck-Str. 2
37191 Katlenburg-Lindau
Tel.: +49 5556-979-419
Email: kellermps.mpg.de

Dr. Holger Sierks
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung
Max-Planck-Str. 2
37191 Katlenburg-Lindau
Tel.: +49 5556-979-242
Email: sierksmps.mpg.de

Links

First OSIRIS images from Rosetta Earth swing-by Press Release 15/2007 (15th Nov 2007)
Rosetta at MPS
OSIRIS at MPS