[AZ-Observing] Speed of Tempel Ejecta

Gene Lucas forwarded me the following:

"The images obtained at the VLT show that after the impact, the
morphology of Comet Tempel 1 had changed, with the appearance of a new
plume-like structure, produced by matter being ejected with a speed of
about 700 to 1000 km/h (see ESO PR Photo 23/05). This structure,
however, diffused away in the following days, being more and more
diluted and less visible, the comet taking again the appearance it had
before the impact. Further images obtained with, among others, the
adaptive optics NACO instrument on the Very
Large Telescope, showed the same jets that were visible
prior to impact, demonstrating that the comet activity survived widely
unaffected by the spacecraft crash."

It appears the ejecta traveled considerably less than 6.3 miles/sec (the speed 
of the Impactor), no more than 0.2 miles/sec.
Stan



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