Photos of the historic landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko seen by the public are all in grayscale.

The European Space Agency has, however, just released a color photo taken by the Rosetta probe that shows the comet's true colors, which is a shade of reddish brown.

This was a surprising new discovery for scientists since Rosetta's Alice instrument determined the comet's terrain and composition were actually black and darker than coal.

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Previous images of Comet 67P were all grayish and were taken by Rosetta's NAVCAM, which only takes monochrome photos.

This new colored image was taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS camera that can take photos beyond the visible light range. OSIRIS however, can't sense color but uses filters located on its sensors. All the images were then combined to create a "true color" image of the comet.

The image looks a bit blurred sinceit's a composite of images taken from the OSIRIS cam at different angles. OSIRIS uses color filters they aren't specifically intended to capture the comet's true colors but more for obtaining scientific data.

As OSIRIS is mapping out the surface of the comet, these color filters outline the comet's specific features and determines the comet's composition, as well.

Rosetta is capable of taking stunning color photos of Comet 67P. It also captured some amazing color images during a Mars flyby during its journey towards the comet.

ESA said aside from the original color image of the comet, it will also release a higher resolution image later this month.

Rosetta made history when its Philae space lab landed on Comet 67P, making it the first ever spacecraft to land on a comet.

Unfortunately, Philae bounced several times during touchdown. It finally settled under the deep shadow of cliff that prevented it from getting enough solar energy to recharge its batteries. Philae is now on standby mode.

Valuable scientific data, however, was sent to Rosetta from Philae just before the lander shut down indefinitely. After a successful repositioning of the solar panels, Philae will gather enough energy to wake up. It will then collect samples from Comet 67P. 

TagsCheck Out Rosetta's Comet 67P's First True Color Photo, ESA, rosetta, philae, comet 67P, rosetta comet first color image photo