1 min read
Time-Lapse Sequence Reveals a Jet Rotating with Comet 252P/LINEAR
This time-lapse movie, assembled from Hubble Space Telescope images, shows a narrow, well-defined jet of dust sweeping around with the rotation of Comet 252P/LINEAR like a spinning lawn sprinkler. The jet is illuminated by sunlight.
Researchers made the movie from Hubble images taken April 4, 2016, when the comet was 8.7 million miles from Earth. The time interval between each frame is approximately 30 to 50 minutes. The icy body made its closest approach to Earth on March 21, 2016, when it was 3.3 million miles away. It is now more than 25 million miles away from Earth.
The jet is composed of material from the comet's icy nucleus that has been warmed by sunlight and ejected into space. The nucleus is too small for Hubble to resolve.
The jet's changing direction is evidence that the comet's nucleus is rotating, which makes the jet appear to spin like the water jet from a rotating lawn sprinkler. The movie underscores the dynamics and volatility of a comet's fragile nucleus.
The movie is based on visible-light images taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.
- Release DateMay 12, 2016
- Science ReleaseHubble Catches Views of a Jet Rotating with Comet 252P/LINEAR
- Credit
Related Images & Videos
Comet 252P/LINEAR (April 4, 2016)
This sequence of images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows Comet 252P/LINEAR as it passed by Earth. The visit was one of the closest encounters between a comet and our planet. The images were taken on April 4, 2016, roughly two weeks after the icy visitor made its...
Share
Details
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
