OSIRIS View of Earth by Night (IMAGE) European Space Agency Caption This is a composite of four images combined to show the illuminated crescent of Earth and the cities of the northern hemisphere. The images were acquired with the OSIRIS Wide Angle Camera during Rosetta's second Earth swing-by on Nov. 13. This image showing islands of light created by human habitation was taken with the OSIRIS WAC at 19:45 CET, about 2 hours before the closest approach of the spacecraft to Earth. At the time, Rosetta was about 80,000 km above the Indian Ocean where the local time approached midnight (the angle between Sun, Earth and Rosetta was about 160°). The image was taken with a five-second exposure of the WAC with the red filter. This image showing Earth's illuminated crescent was taken with the WAC at 20:05 CET as Rosetta was about 75,000 km from Earth. The crescent seen is around Antarctica. The image is a color composite combining images obtained at various wavelengths. Credit ESA ©2005 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA Usage Restrictions For non-commercial use only License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.