Paul Wren
Corey S PowellThis is the surface of a comet! Dust is swirling around the surface of Comet 67/P -- captured in 2016 by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, processing by Jacint Roger Perez.
Still one of the most remarkable scenes in space exploration.
As a kid I learned that comets are just "dirty snowballs." Look at how much richer the reality is!
The Rosetta spacecraft took this amazing close-up of Comet 67/P from a distance of 20 km.
https://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/04/01/cometwatch-28-march-14-km-flyby/ #science #nature #space #astronomy
Rachel Greenham@coreyspowell they *are* dirty snowballs, the error is that word "just”. because "dirty" might as well be a synonym for “endlessly fascinating complicated stuff that might just help us figure out how life starts”… 😀
Agreed, presentation is everything!
I recall a lot of failure of imagination -- people presenting a "snowball" as a featureless blob, not thinking about how much complexity there is in nature at every level.
Manon@coreyspowell Waiting for Elon Mushroom to nominate a comet for Olympic Wintergames …
adingbatponder 
👾@coreyspowell Utterly incredible.. do you have a link to the source ?
The images in the animation come from the Rosetta-OSIRIS archive:
@coreyspowell Did you make the animation? Cool.
No, that was Jacint Perez (aka Landru79) who stitched the images together. He does wonderful work -- mostly shared over on the bird site, unfortunately.
V Martín
Meercat ✅
SublimeOverload@coreyspowell I immediately imagined Kirk and Spock coming over that hill, being pursued by a guy in an incredibly cheap rock suit.
It is fascinating to see though. I am anxious for more. We need more robots exploring our system.
The folks at Desilu definitely could have found someone to make a Star Trek landscape like this out of styrofoam and spray paint.
Jason Stiff@coreyspowell It looks like walking out on my porch here in Montana in winter! 😀
That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen... now I want to go there myself... 😍
Rev. Dr. Mazigazi@coreyspowell I keep expecting a dinosaur in the shadows just like Howard Hawkes’ The Thing From Another World!! #scififilms
Kevin Karhan 
@coreyspowell reminds me of "Crematoria" from Riddick...
The Chronicles of Riddick | Outrunning the Sun
10tothe22I believe those are stars in the back ground.
@10tothe22 If you look carefully you can see three components: background stars, cosmic ray streaks on the detector, and comet dust catching the sunlight.
Michael Busch@coreyspowell @10tothe22 I liked that that globular cluster (NGC 362 / Caldwell 104) just happened to pass behind 67P at the time of that image sequence.
Andy@coreyspowell Phenomenal! I think we should play a Christmas track over it though. Possibly “Let it snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”
Doreen32128 ready to rumble!
Mark Anderson@coreyspowell That’s the difference between the Fediverse and Xitter. We get pictures of comets, they get the effluvia from Musk’s anus.
stevenray
I̵E̶E̸E̵ ̷1̵1̸4̴9̴.̷1̷@coreyspowell non ground down smooth dust... razor sharp dust, that ruins things.
Jumping Mouse@coreyspowell
I thought that was the live footage of the storm that shut down I-70 tonight…
I thought that was the live footage of the storm that shut down I-70 tonight…
@coreyspowell This is such a wonderful animation - a peek into a strange world
Anthony Baker@coreyspowell @Brilliantcrank Always loved this because it looks like a special effect from a 1930s Flash Gordon serial.
MaxTheFox@coreyspowell @nyrath Why does this give me "sci-fi B-movie from the 50s-60s" vibes?
Winchell Chung ⚛🚀Yes, I thought the exact same thing!
Andrew@maxthefox @coreyspowell @nyrath the weirdly fluctuating exposure definitely gives it that early film camera look
60sRefugee
clarebee@coreyspowell Incredible! Getting a sense of vertigo from this - radical decentering!
ĸurth@coreyspowell undisputable Kubrick
Dilman Dila@coreyspowell do comets have gravity?
nantucketlit@coreyspowell Imagine standing there (in a space suit, of course) and looking up at that.
Although, from what I've heard, wiggling your toes on that comet might be enough to send you flying.