Press play for the best experience:
The Rosetta space probe left earth more than a decade ago. It crossed billions of miles of space, and in August entered orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
On Wednesday, Rosetta's lander Philae finally touched down on the comet's surface.
But Philae's mission was cut short: it quietly went into "idle mode" Saturday, indicating its batteries were likely exhausted. Philae had a battery pack designed to last 60 hours, as well as solar panels, but was lodged in shadows.
However, by the time Philae went quiet Rosetta had already spent more than three months in orbit, taking pictures from just a few miles above the surface.
While the images show a range of grays and blacks, the comet is actually "extremely dark -– blacker than coal," the European Space Agency reports. The images are gray-scaled after being taken to highlight the comet's features.
The image below was taken from less than 6 miles above the center of the comet.
Four separate images from Rosetta were combined to create the image below.
Rosetta took the image below on Oct. 18 from about 6 miles above the comet.
Stars are visible above the horizon in many of Rosetta's images.
Rosetta's camera captured Philae as it floated away toward the comet's surface. Though the lander has gone quiet, the comet will reach its closet point to the sun in 2015, offering hope that enough light may reach its solar panels and bring it back to life.
