PIA02190: Piece of a Comet
This image shows a comet particle collected by NASA's Stardust spacecraft. The particle is made up of the silicate mineral forsterite, also known as peridot in its gem form.
 Mission:  Stardust 
 Spacecraft:  Stardust
 Product Size:  720 x 540 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  University of Washington 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA02190.tif (389.4 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA02190.jpg (55.86 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This image shows a comet particle collected by the Stardust spacecraft. The particle is made up of the silicate mineral forsterite, also known as peridot in its gem form. It is surrounded by a thin rim of melted aerogel, the substance used to collect the comet dust samples. The particle is about 2 micrometers across.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Washington

Image Addition Date:
2006-02-21