After Philae separated from its mothership yesterday, the OSIRIS imaging system on Rosetta shot a series of images following the lander’s descent to its destination on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Separation occurred onboard the spacecraft at 08:35 GMT (09:35 CET), with the confirmation signal arriving on Earth at 09:03 GMT (10:03 CET).

This is how Philae appeared to Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera a couple of hours after separation, at 10:23 GMT (onboard spacecraft time). This image shows details of the lander, including the deployment of the three legs and of the antennas.

ESA_Rosetta_OSIRIS_NAC_Farewell_Philae_2

The departure of Philae on 12 November 2014, as seen with OSIRIS NAC on Rosetta at 10:23 GMT (onboard spacecraft time). Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

And here is how the descent proceeded:

ESA_Rosetta_OSIRIS-NAC_Philae_descent_anim

Series of images form OSIRIS NAC showing Philae’s descent to the surface of a comet. They were taken on 12 November 2014, between 10:24 and 14:24 GMT (onboard spacecraft time). Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

This series of images showing Philae’s descent to the surface of the comet were taken with the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera between 10:24 and 14:24 GMT (onboard spacecraft time). More images showing Philae closer to the surface are still to be downloaded.

Here is another image, this one taken with the OSIRIS wide-angle camera, which shows the position of Philae (circled) at 14:19:22 GMT (onboard spacecraft time).

ESA_Rosetta_OSIRIS-WAC_Philae_descent

Philae descending to the comet, as seen by OSIRIS WAC on Rosetta, on 12 November 2014 at 14:19:22 GMT (onboard spacecraft time). Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

And this is where Philae made its first touchdown on Comet 67P/C-G. It is thought that Philae bounced twice before settling on the surface of the comet, and the location of the first touchdown point is marked in this image from the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera (which was taken from a distance of 50 km on 2 September 2014, prior to landing).

ESA_Rosetta_OSIRIS-NAC_Landing_site_50km

The location of the first touchdown point of the Philae lander on Comet 67P/C-G, marked on an image from Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera taken from a distance of 50 km on 2 September 2014. Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Philae’s first touchdown point is also marked in this image taken with the OSIRIS narrow-angle from a distance of 30 km on 14 September 2014 (prior to landing).

ESA_Rosetta_OSIRIS-NAC_Landing_site_30km

The location of the first touchdown point of the Philae lander on Comet 67P/C-G, marked on an image from Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera taken from a distance of 30 km on 14 September 2014. Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Finally, here is a five-image montage of OSIRIS narrow-angle images that is being used to try to identify the final touchdown point of Rosetta’s lander Philae. The red cross marks the first touchdown point.

Searching_for_Philae_node_full_image_2

Five-image montage of OSIRIS NAC images taken around the time of landing on 12 November 2014, when Rosetta was about 18 km from the centre of Comet 67P/C-G. The red cross marks the first touchdown point. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

These images were taken around the time of landing on 12 November when Rosetta was about 18 km from the centre of the comet (about 16 km from the surface).

The signal confirming the first touchdown arrived on Earth at 16:03 GMT (17:03 CET). It is thought that Philae bounced twice before settling on the surface of the comet. The lander has not yet been identified and images are still to be downloaded from the Rosetta spacecraft for further analysis.