Cities at night: Extraordinary Rosetta images

November 14, 2007

The Optical Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) camera on board Rosetta observed Earth during its swing-by last night. Credits: ESA ©2005 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/ UPD/LAM/ IAA/RSSD/ INTA/UPM/ DASP/IDA

ESA's Rosetta has returned extraordinary images captured 13 November 2007 as the comet-chasing spacecraft completed a critical Earth swing-by at 45 000 kilometres per hour.

The images - captured by Rosetta's OSIRIS instrument - comprise a view of the Earth's night side including urban regions in Asia, Africa and Europe, and a view of the Earth's limb over Antarctica.

The first image was taken with the OSIRIS Wide Angle Camera (WAC) at 19:45 CET, about 2 hours before the closest approach of the spacecraft to Earth. At the time, Rosetta was about 80 000 km above the Indian Ocean where the local time approached midnight (the angle between Sun, Earth and Rosetta was about 160°).

Islands of artificial lights created by human habitation are sparsely distributed over the part of the globe seen in the picture.

Source: ESA

• bobwinners - Nov 14, 2007
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  Why is it so difficult for this site to provide links to such spectacular pictures as those taken by Rosetta? Here is one and it is quite short:
  http://www.esa.in...x_0.html
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