HUBBLE CAPTURES OUTBURST FROM COMET TARGETED BY DEEP IMPACT (STScI-PRC05-16)

FOR RELEASE: 10:00 am (EDT) June 27, 2005

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC05-16

HUBBLE CAPTURES OUTBURST FROM COMET TARGETED BY DEEP IMPACT

In a dress rehearsal for the rendezvous between NASA's Deep Impact
spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1, the Hubble Space Telescope captured
dramatic images of a new jet of dust streaming from the icy comet.
The images are a reminder that Tempel 1's icy nucleus, roughly half the
size of Manhattan, is dynamic and volatile. Astronomers hope the
eruption of dust seen in these observations is a preview of the
fireworks that may come July 4, when a probe from the Deep Impact
spacecraft will slam into the comet, possibly blasting off material and
giving rise to a similar dust plume.

Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver
(Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab)

For the full story, please visit:

http://hubblesite.org/news/2005/16
http://www.spacetelescope.org

For additional information, contact:

Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone: 410-338-4514; E-mail: villard@xxxxxxxxx)

Paul Feldman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD,
(Phone: 410-516-7339; E-mail: pdf@xxxxxxxxxxx)

Hal Weaver, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD
(Phone: 443-778-8078; E-mail: hal.weaver@xxxxxxxxxx)

Lars Lindberg Christensen, Hubble European Space Agency Information
Centre, Garching, Germany, (Phone: +49-(0)89-3200-6306;
Cell: +49-(0)173-3872-621; E-mail: lars@xxxxxxx)

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for
NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

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