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Secrets of Space
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Indian subcontinent photographed from space

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ISRO
ISRO’s Mars orbiter took this picture of the Indian sub-continent last year

Space enthusiasts around the world were filled with excitement just over a month ago when the Indian Space Research Organization’s Mars Orbiter Mission successfully placed the space probe into Martian orbit. But in November 2013, while it was still in Earth’s orbit, it used its Mars Colour Camera, at a wide 3.53 kilometer resolution, to take this picture of Earth. The picture captured the Indian subcontinent along with the Middle-East, parts of China, Eurasia and Africa with interesting weather patterns visible over the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

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Highlights from Philae’s landing

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The European Space Agency’s Philae lander/probe separated from the Rosetta spacecraft and successfully landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. A great day for the ESA, the various scientists involved and for all space enthusiasts.

In the future, we will hopefully be able to reap many more positive benefits from what was learned and accomplished by this bold mission to land on a comet.

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Pictures

Saturn’s Rings

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Saturn's S Rings along with its icy moons Prometheus and Epimetheus as tiny specs
Saturn’s Rings along with its icy moons Prometheus and Epimetheus as tiny specs

The Cassini orbiter continues to provide some amazing pictures of the giant planet Saturn, its rings and many moons. In this instance it used its wide-angle camera from a distance of 897,000 kilometers from Saturn to capture part of the planet along with its baffling rings. Also (barely) seen in this image are two of Saturn’s tiny icy brotherly moons Prometheus (just above the A ring) and Epimetheus (further way, top left in the image).

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Pictures

Dark side of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

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Rosetta takes a picture of the dark side of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Rosetta takes a picture of the dark side of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The “dark sides” of celestial bodies are pretty interesting to look at and this is not exception. The ESA’s Rosetta craft took this rare picture of the dark side of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenk which it has been circling for the upcoming rendezvous with its Philae lander. Rosetta’s scientific imaging system (OSIRIS) snapped this picture in September, at a distance of just 19 kilometers from the comet and gives us some indications of surface structures.

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Pictures

Philae’s landing site

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Rosetta spacecraft photographs the primary landing site for its Philae lander
Rosetta spacecraft photographs the primary landing site for its Philae lander

November 12, 2014 is just five days away and this is when the historic mission to deploy the European Space Agency’s Philae lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will occur. The Rosetta spacecraft has been orbiting and scouting this comet for many months. Rosetta used its on-board OSIRIS narrow-angle camera to take this picture of the comet’s surface from a distance of just 30 kilometers. The circled area is designated “Site J” – the primary landing site for Philae on this distant comet.

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