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http://www.geekinformed.com/content/view/384/2/
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of the Tempel 1 comet blowing off a stream of dust scientists stated Monday.
This could be a preview of what astronomers expect to see on the July 4th collision with NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft that's scheduled to collide with the comet on July 4.
The Deep Impact space probe is scheduled to collide with the comet Tempel 1 on July 4 so astronomers can learn more about the inside of comets. An 820-pound copper-core "impactor" will smash into the comet's nucleus at a speed of 23,000 mph in the early part of July 4. The mission will take place 83 million miles away from Earth and be so intricate that the ships will have to maneuver the mission without human intervention.
Project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Rick Grammier told the NY Times, "It's a bullet trying to hit a second bullet with a third bullet, in the right place at the right time."
Little is known about the material that makes up the core of comets, so Deep Impact's mission is expected to give scientists new insight to the objects they believe were created over 4.5 billion years ago.
The Hubble captured the images from a distance of 75 million miles. Astronomers hope that during Deep Impact's collision, the telescope will complement the close-up pictures captured by the space craft. NASA was able to capture two pictures of the comet. The first one was taken before the stream of dust, and the second on - seven hours later - during the outburst. The stream of dust extended 1,400 miles.
Astronomers don't know why comets show bursts of activity, but they suspect that Temple 1 shot off dust from increased heat as it traveled closer to the sun. The heat could have caused a crack in Temple 1's surface to open up, causing dust and gas to escape in a colorful stream.
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