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NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 17, 2026, titled “3D 67P,” turns Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko into a depth-enhanced view. Put on red/blue anaglyph glasses and the comet’s two rugged lobes, connecting neck and active jets appear to float in three dimensions. The image combines two photographs made by the Rosetta spacecraft’s narrow-angle OSIRIS camera on July 25, 2015, when Rosetta was 184 kilometers from the nucleus.
What NASA’s “3D 67P” picture shows
The subject is the nucleus of Comet 67P, a small, irregular comet with a distinctive bilobed shape. A narrow neck joins a larger lobe measuring around 4 kilometers across and a smaller lobe about 2.5 kilometers across. The stereo effect makes the steep cliffs, pits and uneven terrain easier to distinguish than in an ordinary flat image.
Several jets can be seen emerging from the surface. They are associated with the comet’s activity as it approaches the Sun, when sunlight heats volatile material and gas and dust escape through vents and fractures. In the anaglyph, those plumes provide additional visual cues about the comet’s active surface and orientation.
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How to view the APOD in 3D
- Get red/blue anaglyph glasses. The usual pair has a red filter over one eye and a blue or cyan filter over the other.
- Open the October 17, 2026 APOD image. Use the full-size image rather than a small thumbnail so the offset details remain visible.
- Put on the glasses with the red filter over your left eye. If the image looks reversed or the terrain appears to sink instead of rise, switch the glasses around.
- View the image straight on. Keep your eyes roughly level with the screen and allow a few seconds for the two color-separated images to merge.
Anaglyph viewing works by sending slightly different perspectives to each eye. Your brain combines those perspectives into a depth impression. It is not a live three-dimensional camera view; it is a reconstruction made from two images taken from different viewpoints.
How the Rosetta images were made
Camera and acquisition details
The source frames came from Rosetta’s narrow-angle OSIRIS camera. They were acquired on July 25, 2015, at a distance of 184 kilometers from Comet 67P. The published picture is a stereo anaglyph created by combining that paired imagery, with the anaglyph production credited to Philippe Lamy and The Team. The image credit identifies ESA, Rosetta, MPS and OSIRIS.
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Why two views create depth
A single spacecraft photograph records angular information on a flat detector. Stereo processing uses two views with a small change in viewing geometry, analogous to the separation between human eyes. Features that shift between the frames are rendered in different color channels; the glasses separate those channels so the apparent displacement becomes depth.
Why Comet 67P’s shape matters
The two-lobed form is one of the comet’s most recognizable physical characteristics. The narrow neck creates a sharp transition between the larger and smaller masses, while the rough surface shows how little the nucleus resembles a smooth sphere. The 3D presentation emphasizes slopes and relief that can be difficult to judge from a conventional 2D photograph.
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The jets also show that the nucleus is not an inert rock. Near its closest approach to the Sun, heating drives activity from localized regions. The resulting streams of gas and dust help reveal where material is escaping and make the comet’s changing environment visible even in a snapshot.
What happened to the Rosetta spacecraft?
Rosetta’s comet mission ended in September 2016. The spacecraft was commanded into a controlled impact with Comet 67P’s surface, bringing the mission to a planned conclusion while it was still returning scientific observations. The 2015 photographs used for “3D 67P” therefore come from the mission’s operational period, not from a new 2026 observation.
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- Comet in space
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Where to find more Rosetta 3D views
NASA’s APOD explanation points readers to a catalog containing nearly 1,400 additional stereo anaglyphs made from Rosetta image data. That collection lets you compare different parts of the comet and see how changing viewpoints and illumination affect the appearance of cliffs, depressions, jets and the neck between the lobes.
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Key facts at a glance
| Detail | “3D 67P” information |
|---|---|
| APOD date | October 17, 2026 |
| Object | Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko |
| Image type | Red/blue stereo anaglyph |
| Spacecraft and camera | Rosetta spacecraft, narrow-angle OSIRIS camera |
| Image date | July 25, 2015 |
| Acquisition distance | 184 kilometers from the comet |
| Larger lobe | Around 4 kilometers in diameter |
| Smaller lobe | About 2.5 kilometers in diameter |
| Mission end | Controlled impact in September 2016 |
| Additional stereo catalog | Nearly 1,400 Rosetta anaglyphs, as referenced by NASA |
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