Watch space dust shoot around a comet as it tumbles through our solar system

The Rosetta spacecraft chased down the nearly three-mile-long Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet in 2014. It then spent almost two years capturing detailed images of the comet's dust-ridden surface. 

The images are publicly available, which allowed Twitter user landru79 to compile a brilliant animation of images shot over a 25-minute period. Taken together, it gives us an idea of what it's like on that rapidly spinning, oddly-shaped ball of dust and ice.

SEE ALSO: Rosetta Spacecraft Now Has Landing Site on Comet

"This is the well familiar environment in which Rosetta observed for nearly two years — lots of dust flying around!" Matt Taylor, a European Space Agency (ESA) project scientist for the Rosetta mission, said over email.   Read more...

More about Space, Solar System, Comets, European Space Agency, and Rosetta Mission

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