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.
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Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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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
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This image showcases one of the many pits seen on the surface of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Pits like these are thought to be where gas vents into space from the porous subsurface, carrying with it dusty grains of comet material. Scientists are keen to learn the role of this pit – and others – in the development of the comet’s activity, as it gets ever closer to the Sun.
This single-frame NAVCAM image measures 1024 x 1024 pixels. It was captured from a distance of 9.9 km from the centre of the comet (about 7.7 km from the surface) at 02:22 GMT on 15 October 2014. At this distance, the image resolution is 84.6 cm/pixel and the size of the image is 866 x 866 m.
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