A spacecraft orbiting a comet speeding through deep space just captured an amazing photo of a bright outburst shooting from the celestial body.
The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft snapped a photo of a very bright burst of gas and dust shooting forth from Comet 67P on Aug. 22, 2015.
Comet 67P just made its closest approach with the sun in its 6.5 year orbit earlier this month, so activity on the comet is high.
"Based on observations made during previous passages of the comet through the inner solar system, scientists expect the activity to remain high for several weeks after perihelion, and the comet is likely to produce more of these sudden outbursts and peaks of activity," ESA wrote in a blog about the outburst.
Scientists are particularly interested in learning more about the material flung out from the comet because it could give them a better idea of 67P's interior composition.
Rosetta should stick with Comet 67P for about one more year, as the spacecraft and comet continue to make their way around the sun. At the moment, the orbiter's mission is expected to continue through September 2016.
Rosetta became the first spacecraft to orbit a comet last year, and since that time it has beamed back amazing photos and discoveries about Comet 67P. The craft also dropped the Philae lander down onto the surface of the comet, making that washing machine-sized probe the first human-made craft to make a soft-landing on a comet hurtling through deep space.
Philae went silent not long after it made its bouncy landing in an unexpected, shady part of the comet, but scientists still think there might be a chance the lander could start sending information back to Earth via Rosetta sometime in the next month or two.