The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 22 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
This image is a false-colour composite, where the pale blue patches highlight the presence and location of water-ice.
On 3 July 2016 a plume was spotted within the ice-filled depression close to the large boulder near the bottom of the frame. This plume was especially useful from a scientific perspective. As well as observing the site of the plume and the plume itself, Rosetta’s trajectory took it through the ejected material, allowing the spacecraft to collect valuable in situ measurements. Analysis of these data indicates that some as-yet-undetermined source of subsurface energy helped to power the plume.
The image is constructed from three separate images taken by the Rosetta OSIRIS narrow-angle camera. It combines near-infrared, green and blue channels (coloured red, orange and blue, respectively).
Full story: Rosetta finds comet plume powered from below