The Tempel 1 collision with Deep Impact’s impactor

The Tempel 1 collision with Deep Impact’s impactor

NASA recorded an amazing achievement in their latest mission where a spacecraft sent by the agency collided an impactor with a comet named Tempel 1. The result was a spectacular collision and resulted in release of huge plume of primordial materials from the comet’s nucleus. Some of the first images from the collision showed a small fireball followed by a much larger, incandescent flash that engulfed one end of the comet Tempel 1 as the impactor smashed into its surface.

More photos displayed images of craters, ridges and presumed glaciers on the comet and release of post-impact dust cloud which the NASA believe contains materials from the inner surface of the comet. Mission co-investigator Pete Shultz spoke to the media about this spectacular achievement and said: “What you see is something really surprising. First, there is a small flash, then there’s a delay, then there’s a big flash and the whole thing breaks loose. We may have been able to detect some structural response to the impact.”

The impactor totally vaporized after hitting the comet at speeds of over 37,000 kmph. And the Observatories on the ground reported that the explosion brightened the comet by a factor of five within 15 minutes of impact. The dust released due to this massive collision resulted in NASA being unable to immediately collect enough data to establish the size of the comet. However, they plan to use computer graphic technology to improve on the photos and get a clearer view of the comet during the collision.