Rosetta flyby of 21 Lutetia now in 23 hours; stay tuned to the Rosetta blog for latest updates
Friday, July 09, 2010
Closest approach to the large asteroid 21 Lutetia is now just 23 hours and the Rosetta blog is now full of updates. The most interesting one is definitely this post on joint observations between Rosetta and the Herschel Space Telescope (go to the bottom to see the animations), as not only does having a second (certainly among others) pair of eyes on the target help to refine observations and put them in a greater context, but it also provides an opportunity to understand more about the telescope itself as the chance to compare observations conducted from afar with some data from up close is a rare one indeed. It's kind of like watching a building from afar with a pair of binoculars while also talking on the phone to someone standing right in front, and sharing information that way.
There is also a live webcast (English and German) that apparently can be embedded as well, so let's give it a shot:
