See Rosetta Let its Comet Tail Fly

Now in near-touching distance to its comet quarry, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency's (ESA) comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta has managed to snap some stunning photos as the "Rubber Ducky" comet sheds a coma from its vast solid mass.

A comet's coma is what most people call its "tail" - bits of dust and melting ice shedding away from its solid nucleolus as it grows closer and closer to the heat of the Sun in a slow and spiraling orbit. These are the same bits of space debris that form stagnant clouds in space for the Earth to pass through, potentially creating brilliant meteor showers as dust, stone, and ice burn up in our atmosphere.

However, comets aren't always shedding material. When Rosetta was approaching a newly visible 67P back in January, it was apparent that the comet had stopped leaving a streaking coma behind it. However, since then the spacecraft's suit of international instruments have been able to determine that it's still "sweating" a good amount of water - about two cups per second.

Now orbiting at a mere 15 miles from the comet, Rosetta was able to capture photos of 67P shedding some dust and vapor once more.

"The main talking point of this image is the spectacular region of activity at the neck of 67P/C-G," the ESA recently reported. "What we're seeing is the product of ices sublimating and gases escaping from inside the comet, carrying streams of dust out into space. Zooming in close to the surface and to the source of this activity and it is apparent that it is originating from several discrete locations."

Amazingly, while it looks like a tiny vent in these photos, it is important to keep the comet's immense size in mind. The comet is 2.2 by 2.5 miles in size, and recent ground-based images have revealed that 67P's coma already extends at least 11,800 miles (19,000 km) from the nucleus.

Rosetta's Philae lander will be setting down on this weeping behemoth in a little more than one month's time.