After The Flash Came The Dust
Paris, France (ESA) Sep 08, 2006 Through infrared observations with its newly installed infra-red mosaic camera WIRCam, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope offered a stunning image of the crash of the European spacecraft Smart-1, a very bright flash on the low-contrast landscape lit by earthshine, an image that was made available to the European Space Agency moments after Smart-1 radio-silence had made clear that the mission had ended. Beyond the media impact of visual "confirmation" of the crash, the image allowed to pinpoint the location of the crash, actually very accurately predicted by the Smart-1 team after the ultimate orbit maneuver a few orbits before the impact. CFHT observations did not stop once the crash was seen on the Hawaiian evening of September 2. From a preliminary analysis of the long sequence of images acquired every fifteen seconds before and after the crash, the expansion of the dust cloud generated by the high-velocity impact of Smart-1 on the Lunar soil is actually visible over at least the 75 seconds following the crash itself. This is the first observation of a Lunar impact and the expansion of its subsequent dust cloud ever made from the Earth. The corresponding images, made available on the CFHT web site, should allow observers to survey the area and look for the ejecta through imaging or spectroscopic observations. A careful analysis of the time evolution of the dust cloud, joined to the precise knowledge of the spacecraft dynamics at the time of the crash, should help to better understand the formation of ejecta following a lunar impact. The Smart-1 team made an amazing work at keeping the astronomical community, both amateurs and professionals, informed in real time of the last moments of the spacecraft. It allowed us to have, from the lunar landscape of Mauna Kea, a last glance at Smart-1 as it ended on the Moon its long journey and a very successful mission. Email This Article
Related Links Paris, France (ESA) Sep 08, 2006 Timing, location, detection of a flash and of ejected material, and a firework generated by the lunar impact of ESA's SMART-1, are the latest results gathered thanks to the ground observation campaign of this historical event. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |