- Original Caption Released with Image:
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Since successfully carrying out its spectacular impact experiment at comet
Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft has been on an
extended mission, called Epoxi, which culminates in a flyby of comet Hartley 2 on November 4, 2010. En route to the second comet, the
spacecraft observed the moon for calibration purposes on several
occasions. In June 2009, the northern polar regions were observed and
detailed measurements of light from the regions, called spectra, were
collected (blue and cyan). These data unambiguously show the signature of
water and hydroxyl (hashed regions). The water signature varies in
strength; in particular, data acquired over the warm equator in December
2007 have a distinct but weaker signature (purple).
- Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Maryland
Image Addition Date:
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2009-09-24
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