By Victoria Bell For Mailonline
Published: 16:53 BST, 9 May 2019 | Updated: 11:50 BST, 10 May 2019
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Incredible images captured by the Rosetta space probe show in fascinating detail the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
New high-resolution pictures, released as part of a huge archive of 70,000 photos, show comet activity in the best detail that scientists have ever seen.
The Rosetta space probe, cited as one of the most important scientific journeys of the century, orbited the 2.5 mile-wide space rock orbiting the planet Jupiter - between 2014 and 2016.
The high-resolution images include cracks, tall rock faces, and spectacular 'dust fountains', which are formed as the sun's radiation caused parts of the comet's surface to erupt and burst open.
They were released by the European Space Agency which ran the mission and has now made the full image archive available online.
The archive is a joint project with Flensburg University of Applied Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.
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Incredible images captured by the Rosetta space probe have just been released as part of a huge archive of 70,000 photos. They highlight key features of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
The pictures were captured on Rosetta's Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS), shows the comet activity in better detail than scientists had ever seen before.
Some shots show parts of the comet's surface cracks from being burst open in jets of ice and dust as it swept closer to the sun.
The groundbreaking Rosetta probe was the first man-made machine to orbit a comet and land a module on its surface in 2014.
Along with Philae, its lander
