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Originally published in Science Express on 15 September 2005
Science 14 October 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5746, pp. 278 - 280
DOI: 10.1126/science.1119143
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Reports

The Dust Grains from 9P/Tempel 1 Before and After the Encounter with Deep Impact

David E. Harker,1* Charles E. Woodward,2 Diane H. Wooden3

Gemini-N observed the properties of dust ejected from the nucleus of comet 9P/Tempel 1 before and after its encounter with Deep Impact. Marked changes were seen in the 7.8- to 13-micrometer spectral energy distribution and derived grain properties of the inner coma. A strong, broad silicate feature dominated by emission from amorphous pyroxene, amorphous olivine, and magnesium-rich crystalline olivine had developed by 1 hour after impact. The ejected dust mass is {cong}104 to 106 kilograms on the basis of our models. Twenty-six hours later the silicate feature had faded, leaving a smooth featureless spectrum, similar to that observed before the impact, suggesting that the impact did not produce a new active region releasing small particles on the nucleus.

1 Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Department 0424, La Jolla, CA 92093–0424, USA.
2 Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
3 NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035–1000, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dharker{at}ucsd.edu

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