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| A 370kg satellite crashes into Comet Tempel 1 (Image: thuntek) |
On July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft launched a 370kg satellite directly into Comet Tempel 1, which has a diameter of 14km. The collision ejected a significant amount of material, particularly water, which was released for over 60 days.
This outcome was recently announced after American and British scientists monitored the event using the Swift telescope, one of many telescopes closely observing this intentional collision. Data from Swift X-ray indicated that a substantial amount of water was expelled from the comet, and it lasted longer than initially expected.
Researchers hope that this event will enhance their understanding of the composition and characteristics of comets in the universe. This marks the first time a deliberate human-made collision has been conducted for research purposes.
Dr. Dick Willingale from the University of Leicester, who led the research on Swift, stated: “Swift has extremely clever capabilities and the images are very sharp, making it ideal for observing a comet.”
The Deep Impact spacecraft launched a satellite on July 4, 2005 (Image: cfa.harvard)
