Comet 9/P Tempel 1 


This comet is the target of the NASA Deep Impact Mission on July 4th 2005 when the spacecraft Deep Impact will launch a projectile to impact the comet with energy equivalent to 4 tonnes of TNT. Images shown here are taken with 50 cm Newtonian from Worth Hill Observatory before and after impact day.

Pre-impact images:

10th April 2004



4th May 2005



Post-impact images
:

4th July 2005

Comet Tempel imaged four days before impact and 16 hrs post impact. Exposures of equal duration show a marginal increase in brightness 16 hours after the impact. These are a series of short exposures revealing the brightness change of the nuclear region.









6th July 2005

Tonight the coma surrounding the comet appears more distinct:



9th July 2005