Deep Impact: Excavating Comet Tempel 1

Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2005 papers

Abstract

Deep Impact collided with comet Tempel 1, excavating a crater controlled by gravity. The comet's outer layer is composed of 1- to 100-micrometer fine particles with negligible strength (<65 pascals). Local gravitational field and average nucleus density (600 kilograms per cubic meter) are estimated from ejecta fallback. Initial ejecta were hot (>1000 kelvins). A large increase in organic material occurred during and after the event, with smaller changes in carbon dioxide relative to water. On approach, the spacecraft observed frequent natural outbursts, a mean radius of 3.0 ± 0.1 kilometers, smooth and rough terrain, scarps, and impact craters. A thermal map indicates a surface in equilibrium with sunlight.

Related Papers

• → Rampart craters on Ganymede: Their implications for fluidized ejecta emplacement(2010)74 cited
• → On the origin of the lunar smooth-plains(1975)105 cited
• → Numerical modeling of the ejecta distribution and formation of the Orientale basin on the Moon(2015)49 cited
• Ejecta emplacement of the Martian impact crater Bamburg(1979)
• → Mapping the Range of Simple Fresh Lunar Crater Ejecta by Analyzing the Scattering Characteristics of the Lunar Regolith Using Mini-RF Data(2024)1 cited