[SM] Mars orbiter beams back image of tiny comet nucleus

[RS Wood]

From the «cool» department:
Title: Mars Orbiter Beams Back Images of Comet's Surprisingly Tiny Nucleus
Author: timothy
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 08:53:00 -0400
Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/XB8hvRGg4rA/story01.htm

astroengine writes The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has become the first
instrument orbiting Mars to beam back images of comet Siding Spring's nucleus
and coma. And by default, it has also become the first ever mission to
photograph a long-period comet's pristine nucleus on its first foray into the
inner solar system. Interestingly, through analysis of these first HiRISE
observations, astronomers have determined that the icy nucleus at the comet's
core is much smaller than originally thought. "Telescopic observers had modeled
the size of the nucleus as about half a mile, or one kilometer, wide," writes a
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory news release. "However, the best HiRISE images
show only two to three pixels across the brightest feature, probably the
nucleus, suggesting a size less than half that estimate."

[image 2][1][image 4][3][image 6][5]

Read more of this story[7] at Slashdot.
[image 8]
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[9]: http://da.feedsportal.com/r/210474536919/u/49/f/647410/c/35028/s/3fac3a5b/sc/32/rc/1/rc.htm (link)
[10]: http://da.feedsportal.com/r/210474536919/u/49/f/647410/c/35028/s/3fac3a5b/sc/32/rc/1/rc.img (image)
[11]: http://da.feedsportal.com/r/210474536919/u/49/f/647410/c/35028/s/3fac3a5b/sc/32/rc/2/rc.htm (link)
[12]: http://da.feedsportal.com/r/210474536919/u/49/f/647410/c/35028/s/3fac3a5b/sc/32/rc/2/rc.img (image)
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[14]: http://da.feedsportal.com/r/210474536919/u/49/f/647410/c/35028/s/3fac3a5b/sc/32/rc/3/rc.img (image)
[15]: http://da.feedsportal.com/r/210474536919/u/49/f/647410/c/35028/s/3fac3a5b/sc/32/a2.htm (link)
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