OSIRIS û The Eyes of Rosetta

Comets as beautiful phenomena in the night sky have fascinated humans and inspired our imagination for millennia. Having witnessed the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago, comets are also a scientistÆs dream to study. Composed of fluffy dust, several ices and rich organics, it has long been believed that they preserve pristine material from this early time and therefore hold the key to understanding the origin of the solar system with all its planetsùand ultimately life. To make this dream a reality, the Rosetta mission visited a comet named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko between 2014 and 2016. On board the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft were eleven scientific instruments as well as Philae, an in situ laboratory to land on the cometÆs surface. The camera system OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System) can certainly be considered the ôEyes of Rosetta.ö

This book collects the most stunning images acquired by OSIRIS and compiled by the scientists who were responsible for