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