|  bisher 635 mal gesehen | | Zurück zum Bericht | alle Bilder dieser Serie | alle Bilder dieses Autors | | Bild zurück | Foto 1 von 14 | Foto  |  | In a dress rehearsal for the rendezvous between NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1, the Hubble Space Telescope captured dramatic images of a new jet of dust streaming from the icy comet.
The images are a reminder that Tempel 1's icy nucleus, roughly half the size of Manhattan, is dynamic and volatile. Astronomers hope the eruption of dust seen in these observations is a preview of the fireworks that may come July 4, when a probe from the Deep Impact spacecraft will slam into the comet, possibly blasting off material and giving rise to a similar dust plume.
The two images, taken seven hours apart on June 14, show Tempel 1 and its new jet. The image at left, taken at 2:17 a.m. (EDT), is a view of the comet before the outburst. The bright dot is light reflecting from the comet?s nucleus, which appears star-like in these images because it is too small even for Hubble to resolve. The nucleus, a potato-shaped object, is 8.7 miles (14 kilometers) wide and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long. Hubble's viewing the nucleus is as difficult as someone trying to spot a potato in Salt Lake City from New York City.
The photo at right, snapped at 9:15 a.m. (EDT), reveals the jet [the bright fan-shaped area]. The jet extends about 1,400 miles (2,200 kilometers), which is roughly half the distance across the U.S. It is pointing in the direction of the Sun.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab)
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| | Aktueller Bericht: Deep Impact, Tempel 1 Photos / Bilder | | Autor des Berichts: Andi Karr | | erstellt: 04.07.2005 | | bisher gesehen: 635 mal | | Stichworte: Raumfahrt, Deep Impact, Tempel 1, Komet, Photos |
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