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New Arecibo Radar Images Show Comet Responsible for Camelopardalids is an Icy, Cratered Mini World
Radar images of Comet 209P/LINEAR taken from May 23 through May 27, 2014. The Earth is at the bottom of these images: the “side view” is a result of the radar imaging method. Several features are visible on the comet, perhaps ridges or cliffs. This is only the fifth comet nucleus imaged by Arecibo in the last 16 years, and the most detailed. Resolution in the vertical direction is 7.5 meters (25 feet) per pixel. Image credit: Arecibo Observatory/NASA/Ellen Howell.
When Comet 209P/LINEAR — the comet that brought us the Camelopardalids meteor shower last weekend – was first discovered in February of 2004, astronomers initially thought it was an asteroid. However, subsequent images of the objects showed it had a tail, and so it was reclassified as a comet. Now, new images taken by the Arecibo Observatory planetary radar system reveal Comet 209P/LINEAR has complex surface features that will require more analysis to fully interpret. This mini world seems to be filled with ridges and cliffs along with its icy surface.
“This is the highest resolution radar image we have obtained of a comet nucleus,” said Dr. Ellen Howell from the Universities Space Research Association, who led the observations of the comet at Arecibo, located in Puerto Rico.
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Read the rest of New Arecibo Radar Images Show Comet Responsible for Camelopardalids is an Icy, Cratered Mini World (819 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2014. |
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Post tags: arecibo observatory, Comet 209P/LINEAR, Comets, Planetary Science, Radar imagery
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/112238/new-arecibo-radar-images-show-comet-responsible-for-camelopardalids-is-an-icy-cratered-mini-world/
