Bursting with Water

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These water maps of Tempel 1 show the location of water molecules around the comet. Each image corresponds to a different time interval - two before a comet outburst (left), one near the peak of an outburst (middle), and one after the outburst (right). The outward motion of the water during the outburst can be seen. This information will be used to understand the process by which outbursts occur.

The images were created by combining the spectral signal of water observed across the comet by Deep Impact's infrared spectrometer.

CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD/SAIC/J. Sunshine