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Comet 67P and Rosetta are now just over 400 million km from the Sun, and receding

Perfectly backlit by our star. This is how Comet 67P was pictured this week by the Rosetta spacecraft.


The European Space Agency (Esa) probe was a few hundred km "downstream" of all the vapour and dust being vented from the icy dirt-ball.
Even though the duck-shaped object is heading out of the inner Solar System, it remains classically active.
Rosetta will continue to study the comet until controllers direct it to make a "landing" in September.
Mission officials will endeavour to make this touchdown a gentle one, to ensure data is returned for as long as possible. But it will bring the whole venture to an end.

 

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