Scientists excited as Deep Impact Collision with Tempel 1 approaches

Scientists excited as Deep Impact Collision with Tempel 1 approaches

Just 4 days are left to the much-awaited collision of the impactor thrown by the Deep Impact towards the Tempel 1 comet. NASA has just detected another major outburst from the comet and this one is bigger than the one recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope. That one occurred on the June 22 when Hubble Space Telescope recorded a visible brightening in the comet.

Before that, NASA recorded another similar burst on the June 14. The latest burst is around six times larger than the previous one as the NASA communicated through a statement from Michael A’Hearn, who heads the Deep Impact team. He said: “the ejected material dissipated almost entirely within about a half day”.

Comet Tempel 1 is now at the point in its orbit at which it is closest to the sun. NASA calls this position perihelion. NASA as per these latest collected data believes that such outbursts are common on the comets, as they have been recorded in quick successions. Rick Grammier, the Deep Impact project manager has on his part made it clear that such incidents on the comet does not affect the mission plan with Deep Impact space craft.

NASA has deployed the Deep Impact spacecraft to release an 820-pound impactor probe to bang into Comet Tempel 1. It is scheduled to collide with Tempel 1 on the Fourth of July at 1:52 a.m. ET. NASA expects to create a stadium-sized crater in the comet and take data from the inner surface of the comet to study the evolution of the Solar System.