The image focuses on the comet's Imhotep region

Jul 27, 2015 08:42 GMT  ·  By

A new and stunningly detailed space image released by ESA scientists just the other day reveals boulders and debris scattered across the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. 

The view, available in the gallery below, was delivered by the agency's Rosetta spacecraft. The probe has been orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko since August 2014, and with the help of its OSIRIS narrow-angle camera, it has helped map its geography in detail.

This latest view of landscapes on Rosetta's target comet focuses on a region called Imhotep, in turn located on the largest of the orb's two lobes. The image was obtained from a distance of 43 kilometers (27 miles), and the scale is 80 centimeters (32 inches) per pixel.

Apart from boulders and debris, this Rosetta image shows cliff walls and basins. As it turns out, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is by no means a dull place, at least not geologically-wise.

“Extensive erosion is seen in the Imhotep region on the large lobe of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko where consolidated material is exposed,” ESA scientists write in the image's description.

“Large numbers of boulders and debris lie at the foot of exposed cliff walls or inside basins, as seen here along one of Imhotep's boundaries,” they go on to explain.

The Rosetta spacecraft and its target comet are now on their way to the inner Solar System. As Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko approaches the Sun, the probe will study how exposure to increased temperatures alters its appearance and makeup.

Comet 67P/C-G is now on its way to the Sun (5 Images)

Artist's rendering of Rosetta and its target comet
Close-up of the Imhotep regionA view of the comet
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