PIA02141: First Contact


First Contact

Caption:

The image depicts the first moments after Deep Impact's probe interfaced with comet Tempel 1. The illuminated -- and possibly incandescent -- debris is expanding from the impact site. The rough-hewn edges at the top and bottom of the flash are a result of light given off at impact saturating some of the pixels in the camera's imager. The pixels "bleed" excess electronic charge onto adjacent pixels in the same column.

This image was taken by Deep Impact's high-resolution camera.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target 9P/Tempel
System Periodic Comets
Target Type Comet
Mission Deep Impact
Instrument Host Deep Impact
Host Type Impactor
Instrument High Resolution Instrument (HRI)
Detector
Extra Keywords Grayscale, Impact
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2005-07-20
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02141
Identifier PIA02141