One of the comets the Webb team will study following its 2021 launch is Borrelly, a Jupiter-family comet. NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft snapped this image of Borrelly’s icy, rocky nucleus in September 2001. The irregularly shaped nucleus is 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, long. While Webb will not see this level of detail, it will be able to measure molecular composition on the surface and sense variations as the object rotates.
Credits
Image
NASA-JPL
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | 19P/Borrelly |
| Object Description | Periodic comet |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Taken by Deep Space 1 spacecraft on Nov. 4, 2001, 160 seconds before the spacecraft's closest approach to the comet. This image shows the 8-km (5-mile) long nucleus about 3417 kilometers (over 2,000 miles) away. |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
