Back to Tempel 1
Feb. 15th, 2011 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmcirvinOn July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact probe slammed a metal projectile into the nucleus of comet Tempel 1, but the impact made so much material spew out of the comet that it was impossible to get a good post-impact look at the target area. Yesterday/today, the Stardust probe flew past Tempel 1 and got a second look.
Via Planetary Society: All the images from the Stardust Tempel 1 flyby, some context from Deep Impact, and an animation, and highlights from the briefing.
The surprising thing is that, even after the Deep Impact projectile kicked up all that spew, the crater it made isn't clearly visible to casual observers. The pictures from Stardust obviously cover the same area that appeared in the impactor camera pictures—you can't miss those two craters and the long curving ridge—but it doesn't look like there's anything there at the impact point! But the team claims that the crater really is subtly visible and its size is consistent with predictions.
Stardust's primary mission, in 2004, was to capture dust from Comet Wild 2 in blocks of aerogel that it returned to Earth in an entry capsule that came down in 2006. Unlike the similar Genesis return capsule, this one had a functioning parachute. The capsule's in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC; I saw it there this summer.
Update: This page has more about the flyby results, and confirms something I'd been suspecting: that you can see the effects of the hit more in the nearby features that don't appear any more, having been erased by the impact. I wasn't sure because the lower resolution of the new images, differences in lighting, and general outgassing from the comet could have changed the appearance as well.
Via Planetary Society: All the images from the Stardust Tempel 1 flyby, some context from Deep Impact, and an animation, and highlights from the briefing.
The surprising thing is that, even after the Deep Impact projectile kicked up all that spew, the crater it made isn't clearly visible to casual observers. The pictures from Stardust obviously cover the same area that appeared in the impactor camera pictures—you can't miss those two craters and the long curving ridge—but it doesn't look like there's anything there at the impact point! But the team claims that the crater really is subtly visible and its size is consistent with predictions.
Stardust's primary mission, in 2004, was to capture dust from Comet Wild 2 in blocks of aerogel that it returned to Earth in an entry capsule that came down in 2006. Unlike the similar Genesis return capsule, this one had a functioning parachute. The capsule's in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC; I saw it there this summer.
Update: This page has more about the flyby results, and confirms something I'd been suspecting: that you can see the effects of the hit more in the nearby features that don't appear any more, having been erased by the impact. I wasn't sure because the lower resolution of the new images, differences in lighting, and general outgassing from the comet could have changed the appearance as well.