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Hubble sees outburst from Deep Impact comet

29 June 2005

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The Hubble Space Telescope was 120 million kilometres away from the comet when this image was taken by the high-resolution Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The telescope's views complement close-up images being taken by cameras aboard Deep Impact, which is speeding toward the comet.

This image, snapped at 14:15 (UT/GMT) on 14 June, reveals the 'jet' (the bright fan-shaped area). The jet extends about 2200 kilometres, which is roughly the distance from Copenhagen to Athens. It is pointing in the direction of the Sun.

Credits: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver (Applied Physics Lab)

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This image of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was taken on 3 March 2002 during a servicing mission from the US Space Shuttle.

Credits: NASA

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These two images, taken seven hours apart on 14 June, show Tempel 1 and its new jet. The image at left, taken at 07:17(UT/GMT), is a view of the comet before the outburst.

The photo at right, snapped at 14:15 (UT/GMT), reveals the jet (the bright fan-shaped area). The jet is pointing in the direction of the Sun, and is about 2200 kilometres wide.

Credits: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver (Applied Physics Lab)

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This image, taken at 7:17 (UT/GMT) on 14 June, shows Tempel 1 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 14 kilometres wide and 4 kilometres long.

Credits: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver (Applied Physics Lab)

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