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NASA’s October 24, 2026 Astronomy Picture of the Day features a selfie-like image of the Rosetta spacecraft near comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by the CIVA camera system on the Philae lander on October 7, 2014, before Philae separated from Rosetta to descend toward the comet.
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day featured a Rosetta spacecraft “selfie” on October 24, 2026, showing the orbiter near comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shortly before its Philae lander separated and began its descent. The photograph was taken on October 7, 2014, with the CIVA camera system aboard Philae, while the lander was still attached to Rosetta.
At the time of the photograph, Rosetta was about 472 million kilometers from Earth and approximately 16 kilometers from the comet’s surface, according to the APOD description. The frame shows part of the orbiter, including sunlight reflecting from one of its 14-meter solar arrays. Dust and gas streaming from the comet appear beyond the spacecraft near the top of the image.
NASA’s caption says the final image from Philae’s camera before separation was made by combining two exposures, one short and one long, to capture the scene’s strong contrast. Philae detached from Rosetta on November 12, 2014. The lander took another image shortly after separation, looking back toward the orbiter, and then began descending toward the comet’s nucleus.
The image credit is ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA. The APOD entry is credited to authors and editors Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff and Keighley Rockcliffe. The daily feature presents a selected image with an explanation written by a professional astronomer; this publication is a retrospective presentation of an earlier mission image, not an announcement of a new spacecraft observation.
A View Before Philae’s Separation
The photograph records a brief operational moment: Philae was still mounted on Rosetta, and the lander’s camera was looking outward from the spacecraft toward the orbiter and comet. Once Philae separated, it began a descent that would take it to the comet’s surface. The picture therefore documents the mission’s transition from orbital preparation to a landing attempt, rather than simply offering a distant view of the comet.
Its perspective also makes the scale and proximity of the mission easier to grasp. Rosetta was far from Earth but only 16 kilometers above 67P’s surface when the exposure was made. The visible solar array, the comet’s escaping dust and gas, and the spacecraft’s position together show the environment in which the lander’s deployment took place. The APOD feature gives readers a dated record of that stage of the mission without claiming a new scientific finding.
Rosetta mission 67P comet photo book
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Rosetta and Philae in 2014
Rosetta was a European Space Agency mission that traveled to and studied comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It carried Philae, a lander intended to descend from the orbiter and conduct investigations at the comet. The image featured by APOD was taken during the period when Philae remained attached to Rosetta and the mission team was preparing for the lander’s deployment.
According to NASA’s caption, Philae’s selected primary landing site was on the visible hemisphere of the comet’s smaller lobe. The 2014 photograph predates the November 12 separation by several weeks. The caption describes a second, post-separation image looking back toward Rosetta, followed by Philae’s descent. These details situate the selfie within the mission timeline; the October 24, 2026 APOD item itself is a presentation of archival material.
ESA Rosetta Philae mission poster comet 67P
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What the Caption Does Not Establish
The APOD entry describes the photograph and provides mission timing and distance estimates, but it does not report new measurements or discoveries from the image. It also does not specify the exact exposure durations or provide further technical details about how the two exposures were processed beyond saying they were combined.
The source material gives no additional update about the mission or new analysis of the image. Accordingly, claims about what the photograph may reveal beyond the caption’s description would require separate evidence. The feature’s publication date should not be mistaken for the image’s capture date: the photograph was taken in 2014 and featured on APOD in 2026.
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The Next APOD Feature
The APOD entry lists the following day’s picture as “dark matters”. The supplied NASA report does not give further details about that image or indicate that a new Rosetta-related release is planned. For this story, the next development is the scheduled daily APOD feature, while the Rosetta selfie remains an archival image accompanied by its mission context.
astronomy book Rosetta spacecraft Philae lander
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Key Questions
When was Rosetta’s selfie taken?
The image was taken on October 7, 2014, although NASA featured it as APOD on October 24, 2026.Which camera took the image?
It was taken by the CIVA camera system on Philae, while the lander was still attached to Rosetta.How close was Rosetta to comet 67P?
NASA’s caption says Rosetta was about 16 kilometers from the comet’s surface and about 472 million kilometers from Earth when the image was captured.What happened after the photograph?
Philae separated from Rosetta on November 12, 2014. The caption says the lander then took another image looking back at the orbiter and began its descent toward the comet’s nucleus.Does the 2026 APOD feature report a new discovery?
No new discovery is described in the supplied APOD report. It presents and explains an archival 2014 image.Source: primary
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