As the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft approaches Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it's documenting its mission by capturing the most remarkable photographs.

These include a selfie of itself along with detailed close-ups of the comet showing what appears to be a pyramid rock on the comet's surface.

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Using the CIVA (Comet Infrared and Visible Analyzer) camera on its Philae lander, Rosetta caught an image that demonstrates the comet's dynamic activity such as intense jets of gas and comet dust caused by a process called sublimation.

Sublimation occurs when a comet's surface temperatures increases rapidly as it approaches the sun. Since Comet 67P has an icy nucleus, the heated ice doesn't turn into liquid water in space but into jet streams of gas.

Another remarkable photo of thecomet includes an odd shaped rock formation that resembles a pyramid. The ESA Rosetta team named this boulder "Cheops" after the largest pyramid in Giza, Egypt.

Rosetta took photos of Cheops last August but the new images show more detailed features of the pyramid boulder. 

The pyramid measures about 147 feet across the surface and has very craggy and irregular features, said OSIRIS Principal Investigator Holger Sierks of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.

Sierks adds there are small patches found on the boulder's surface that have similar brightness and texture as the comet's underground.

Scientists hope to unravel the Cheops mystery as soon as the Philae lander attaches itself to the comet on November 12. Philae will study Comet 67P's terrain and composition and hopefully unlock the secrets of the early birth of the solar system.

Rosetta traveled in deep space for 10 years to reach comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It rendezvoused with the comet last August, becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit a comet.

TagsRosetta Spacecraft Snaps Mission Selfie with Comet 67P and Bizarre Pyramid Shaped Rock, ESA, rosetta, comet 67P, rosetta comet 67P selfie pyramid rock boulder photo