From: | NewsProfiles@aol.net |
Title: | NASA RELEASES PICTURES OF COMET |
Source: | Reuter |
Date: | March 27, 1996 |
get a closer look at the Comet Hyakutake in pictures taken by
the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and published on Wednesday.
``I believe we got the heart of the comet,'' said Hal
Weaver, who directed the picture-shooting from NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Hubble, which travels in an orbit 350 miles (560 km)
above the earth, circles the globe every 96 minutes. The comet
is unusually close to earth.
Weaver said in a telephone interview that he took 14
pictures at about 8:30 P.M. EST on Monday using the Hubble's
wide-field camera. ``We observed it for about 40 minutes. We
captured our images as the nucleus rotated,'' he said.
He said he plans to take another set of 14 pictures on
Sunday night when the positioning is right.
Scientists are closely examining the comet for clues about
the origins of the solar system. Comets -- ``dirty snowballs''
of rock and ice usually a mile or less to six miles (one to 10
km) long -- have changed very little since the solar system's
birth about 4.5 billion years ago, whereas planets, stars and
other larger bodies have constantly evolved.
Hyakutake -- officially Comet C/1996 B2 -- was discovered in
late January. It will be the fifth closest comet to Earth to
pass by this century and its radio emissions may enable
scientists to detect chemicals that make up its core.