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 23 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
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This is a projected map of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko using data from Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera. It is based on a cylindrical projection, a procedure that is routinely used to chart the surface of planets, moons and other (roughly) spherical celestial bodies.
The intricate appearance is caused by the unusual, double-lobed shape of this comet: the small lobe is shown at the centre of the map, while portions of the large lobe are shown to the left and right.
The blue points refer to possible origins, on the surface of the comet, of some of the dust jets recently observed by OSIRIS. The yellow line indicates the sub-solar line, which traces out the points on the surface where the Sun is directly overhead.