丘泽彗星的雪季

2020 March 15

The Snows of Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Images Credit: ESA, Rosetta, MPS, OSIRIS; UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA;
Animation: Jacint Roger Perez

Explanation: You couldn’t really be caught in this blizzard while standing by a cliff on Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Orbiting the comet — frequently abbreviated as 67P or CG — in June of 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft’s narrow angle camera did record streaks of dust and ice particles — similar to snow — as they drifted across the field of view near the camera and above the comet’s surface. Some of the bright specks in the scene, however, are likely due to a rain of energetic charged particles or cosmic rays hitting the camera, and the dense background of stars in the direction of the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major). In the featured video, these background stars are easy to spot trailing from top to bottom. The stunning movie was constructed from 33 consecutive images taken over 25 minutes while Rosetta cruised some 13 kilometers from the comet’s nucleus.

Tomorrow’s picture: almost saturn

丘泽彗星的雪季
影像提供: ESA , Rosetta , MPS , OSIRIS; UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA;
动画制作: Jacint Roger Perez

说明: 当你站在丘泽彗星的悬崖上时，并不会被这场暴风雪所困。在2016年6月绕行这颗彗星（简称67P）时，罗塞塔号太空船的窄视角相机，记录到看来像降雪的尘埃和冰粒，飘过彗星表面上方的相机视野里。影像里的条状光痕，部分可能源自打到相机的带电粒子或宇宙射线，以及大犬座方向密密麻麻的背景恒星。在主题影片里，背景恒星轻易可辨，因为它们产生的光痕是由上而下。这部精采的缩时动画，建构自罗塞塔号飞行在这颗彗星的核心上方，高度约13公里时，于25分钟期间所拍摄的33张系列照片。

明日的图片: almost saturn