Page Loading... Please wait...
Wait

Education, Careers & Professional News

Telescopes in space, on ground analyse Impact

Filed under:

The collision of a NASA space probe and a potato-shaped comet hurled a bright cloud of debris into space at the speed of a jetliner, scientists said.

The Hubble Space Tele- findings were among observations pouring in from telescopes in space and on the ground. For example, an infrared camera on the Very Large Telescope in Chile detected a colour change in the plume, suggesting different size dust particles were sprayed from the comet and were traveling at different speeds through space.

The impact suggests the probe struck a surface that was soft and powdery before penetrating trapped gas and ice beneath, said Pete Schultz, a Deep Impact co-investigator.

But other researchers scope took pictures of the July 4 impact that initially showed comet Tempel 1 as a fuzzy dot that grew four times brighter 15 minutes after the collision.

This is pretty dramatic, said Paul Feldman, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, who observed the impact with the Hubble telescope.He also said that the initial ultraviolet readings taken by NASAs Swift satellite detected a dramatic rise in UV light, indicating the surface was hard or there was solid material underneath. The debris cloud has prevented scientists from peering into the impact crater.

Scientists said it could take at least a week for the cosmic dust to settle before they get to look at the inside of a comet.

Studying the debris hurled from the interior of Tempel 1 and the crater left behind could yield clues to how the sun and planets formed 4.5 billion years ago.

Related pages

Scientists hope the impact will reveal the comet’s pristine core

Not all dazzling fireworks displays will be on Earth on July 4, the U.S. Independence Day. NASA hopes to shoot off its own celestial sparks in an audacious mission that will blast a stadium-sized hole in a comet half the size of Manhattan. It would give astronomers their first peek .....

NASA to study the entrails of a comet

Source DECCAN HERALD Date 2005-06-27 Information Hoping to get their first peek at the inside of a comet, astronomers at NASA plan to blast a stadium-sized hole through one of the heavenly bodies. If all goes as planned, the Deep Impact spacecraft will release a wine barrel-sized probe on a .....

NASA to study the entrails of a comet

Source DECCAN HERALD Date 2005-06-27 Information Hoping to get their first peek at the inside of a comet, astronomers at NASA plan to blast a stadium-sized hole through one of the heavenly bodies. If all goes as planned, the Deep Impact spacecraft will release a wine barrel-sized probe .....

Historic mission of NASA successful:Cause for celebration

The impact at 10:52 p.m. Pacific time was cause for celebration not only to scientists at NASA`s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, but also for the more than 10,000 people camped out at Hawaii`s Waikiki Beach to watch it on a giant movie screen. NASA scientists used a space probe .....

Amity launches space centre

The Amity Space Set team comprising 12 students of Amity International School, Saket, has been declared as one of the Finalists for the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC) to be held at NASAs Johnson Space Centre located at Houston, Texas, USA, in July 2007. To promote scientific fervour and .....

National Aeronautics Space Administration Held International Space Settlement Design Competition

A seven-member panel of National Aeronautics Space Administration {NASA) scientists declared the team comprising 13 students and two teacher advisors from Apeejay School, Jalandhar as winners of the international Space Settlement Design competition held at NASA, Houston, Texas. The eight teams including three Indian, were given 42 hours to propose .....

Satellite by students

In an outstanding venture, 200 university students from across Europe have built and launched a satellite into space on 27th October. Students from 12 European countries and 20 universities participated in this project. The name of the satellite is SSETI Express and has the size of a standard washing machine. .....

CII recently hosted 200 aspiring young leaders from 53 commonwealth countries, during the 10th Commonwealth Study Conference

CII recently hosted 200 aspiring young leaders from 53 commonwealth countries, during the 10th Commonwealth Study Conference Study Conference The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recently hosted 200 aspiring young leaders from 53 commonwealth countries, during the 10th Commonwealth Study Conference 2007. As part of the conference the delegates visited leading global .....

IIM Shillong yet to get off the ground

IIM Shillong yet to get off the ground Shillong may not have its Indian Institute of Management (IIM) till end 2008 going by current indications. It was supposed to get an IIM this July but senior professors, handling the project, say it might take another year before it takes shape .....

Infotech to have positive impact on growth: study

Infotech to have positive impact on growth: study Around 88% of the Indian business leaders believe that increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) will be a major determinant in overcoming socio-economic disparities. This will advance growth in the next five years, according to a joint study by Accenture and .....

Recently Visited Pages