The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft snapped a surreal selfie of itself from space on Sunday.
The image captured the edge of the spacecraft and one of its solar wings that shines against the blackness of space. It was snapped at a distance of approximately 50km away from the orbiting comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko that is also seen in the photo.
The selfie was captured with the Comet Infrared and Visible Anaylser (CIVA) camera that is attached to Rosetta's landing craft called Philae.
"#Selfie at #67P - @philae2014's CIVA camera snapped my solar array in front of the comet :-)," the mission's official Twitter account tweeted.
#Selfie at #67P – @philae2014’s CIVA camera snapped my solar array in front of the comet :-) https://t.co/RDjiNfGyMw pic.twitter.com/H9kJEdW5Va
— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) September 10, 2014
The CIVA camera is one of the ten instruments that will be used to study the comet, and will compile a 360-degree panoramic image of the landing site. On Monday, the ESA narrowed five possible landing sites of the Philae probe down to two. Scientists are searching for the perfect site on the irregularly shaped comet to land the probe, which is the size of a washing machine. The landing site must not include surface hazards that would cut off communication between Philae and Rosetta.
"It has presented a challenge as to where we can land on the comet because there are certain regions you just can't reach," says Rosetta project scientist Matt Taylor. "The neck is quite difficult to get to -- it's difficult to get a trajectory that will end up on that point without clipping one of the lobes."
Philae will be programmed to land on the comet on its own since the comet is so far away from the Earth. It took over 10 years to accurately position the Rosetta craft so that it could trace the comet's orbit around the Sun. It is the first mission to attempt a landing.
Scientists will study the space rock to find out if comets ever carried water to Earth and whether or not they contain the building blocks of life.
The mission's instruments have began to collect dust over the past few weeks and that has allowed scientists to start to "sniff and taste the comet." The space selfie shows distinct lobes of the comet in the distance of the 14m-long solar wing of the spacecraft.
Detailed images of landing sites show boulders, cracks and slopes that could potentially turn Philae over. The final landing site won't be decided until October.
Philae is set to land on the comet's surface in November.
