June 29, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY
At 1:52 am EDT on the morning of July 4, a probe launched from the Deep Impact
spacecraft will collide with Comet Tempel 1.
That probe is about the size of a table, albeit a table that weights 820
pounds! When it hits the comet's nucleus at some 23,000 miles per hour it is
expected to cause a crater the size of a football field. As the gas and dust
released from the impact spreads out, the comet may increase in brightness some
ten to a hundred times as seen from Earth.
Indeed, the impact may be enough to split the fragile object into two or more
major fragments.
To track this event, the Calvin Observatory had planned to host events on both
July 3 and July 4.
Due to technical difficulties that cannot be promptly resolved, the events on
July 3 have been canceled.
The events on July 4 will continue as originally planned.
Media are invited to cover this event at Calvin.
Note that on the night of July 4 the Observatory dome on the Science Building
will be open from 10:30 pm to midnight, so following local fireworks displays
visitors will have a chance to see any astronomical "fireworks" ignited by the
collision.
The ejected material will have had time to spread out and shine its brightest,
so the comet could be bright enough to see through the eyepiece, or in
photographs taken through the telescope with Calvin's high-sensitivity camera.
Visitors can also enjoy views of other astronomical objects, including Jupiter,
nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.
The Observatory will be open only if skies are mostly clear in Grand Rapids.
See http://www.calvin.edu/observatory/deepimpact.html
For more information about Deep Impact see http://www.nasa.gov/deepimpact
Contact Deborah Haarsma at 616-526-6340. That night call 526-6435 if you have
questions about the weather.
-end-
Received on Wed Jun 29 16:36:19 2005
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Jun 29 2005 - 16:36:19 EDT