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Submitted on August 16, 2005
Accepted on September 1, 2005
Deep Impact: Excavating Comet Tempel 1
M. F. A’Hearn 1*, M. J. S. Belton 2, W. A. Delamere 3, J. Kissel 4, K. P. Klaasen 5, L. A. McFadden 1, K. J. Meech 6, H. J. Melosh 7, P. H. Schultz 8, J. M. Sunshine 9, P. C. Thomas 10, J. Veverka 10, D. K. Yeomans 5, M. W. Baca 9, I. Busko 11, C. J. Crockett 1, S. M. Collins 5, M. Desnoyer 10, C. A. Eberhardy 8, C. M. Ernst 8, T. L. Farnham 1, L. Feaga 1, O. Groussin 1, D. Hampton 12, S. I. Ipatov 1, J.-Y. Li 1, D. Lindler 13, C. M. Lisse 14, N. Mastrodemos 5, W. M. Owen Jr.5, J. E. Richardson 15, D. D. Wellnitz 1, R. L. White 11
1 University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. 2 Belton Space Exploration Initiatives, Tucson, AZ, USA. 3 Delamere Support Services, Boulder, CO, USA. 4 Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. 5 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA. 6 University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA. 7 University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. 8 Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. 9 SAIC, Chantilly, VA, USA. 10 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. 11 Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA. 12 Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp., Boulder, CO, USA. 13 Sigma Scientific, Greenbelt, MD, USA. 14 University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.; Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, USA. 15 University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
M. F. A’Hearn , E-mail: ma{at}astro.umd.edu
Deep Impact collided with comet Tempel 1 excavating a cratercontrolled by gravity. The comet’s outer layer is composedof 1-100 m fine particles with negligible strength (<65 Pa).Local gravitational field and average nucleus density (600 kgm-3) are estimated from ejecta fallback. Initial ejecta werehot (>1000 K). A large increase in organic material occurredduring and after the event, with smaller changes in CO2 relativeto H2O. On approach, the spacecraft observed frequent naturaloutbursts, a mean radius of 3.0±0.1 km, smooth and roughterrain, scarps, and impact craters. A thermal map indicatesa surface in equilibrium with sunlight.
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