This is the hauntingly beautiful space selfie you were looking for

Yes, the word selfie is ubiquitous, and it's debatable to what extent a robotic space probe can really take one, but this photo more than makes up for any such cynicism.

It was taken from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft a week ago, and shows the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko just 16km (10 miles) away, streams of dust and gas clearly visible, and one of its 14m-long solar wings.

The image was actually taken by the Philae lander, which will detach next month in order to attempt the perilous descent on to the 4.1km x 4.5km comet.

Last month Philae took another such selfie showing the comet 50km away.

Rosetta was launched in March 2004 and it is hoped Philae will be able to obtain images from the comet's surface and ascertain exactly what it is made of.

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