Seasons are changing on Comet 67P

[Merc14]

Seasons are changing on Rosetta’s comet

Two photos from the Rosetta spacecraft – one from last November, and one from a few days ago – show a comet’s seasons changing.

While its Philae Lander continues to ‘sleep,’ waiting for the sun to rise high enough in its sky for its solar panels to begin generating power again, the Rosetta spacecraft continues its science mission at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The image above is an amazing four-frame mosaic from Rosetta’s Navigation Camera (NAVCAM), taken on January 16, 2015 from a distance of 28.4 km (17.6 miles). The orientation of the Rosetta Spacecraft and time of day on the comet is identical to the images obtained back on November 2, 2014 (see below), but note how many of the shadowed areas back in November are now starting to get some oblique sunlight, as the comet continues towards an equinox (its northern autumn/southern spring), coming up on May 5, 2015.

Article continues here: http://earthsky.org/...1148c-394012957