Ok, there is a bit more to the comet story from yesterday. The Planetary Society blog posted some fascinating early analysis of the data. First of all, it turns out that the comet is actually active! There are 4 streams of vapor coming out of the comet. They are difficult to see with the naked eye so here is a weird enhanced image.
Passing Gas: There is vapor coming out of 4 hot spots on the comet.
Secondly, here is a more detailed analysis of the impact site. It’s not very spectacular. The crater is really, really hard to see. Although the impact was quite spectacular, it didn’t leave especially prominent impressions on the comet. This isn’t really encouraging for the plausibility of Armageddon scenarios. But I’m sure Bruce Willis would have done a much better job.
A processed image of the impact crater. You need to follow the red lines. The crater is where they would cross if they were longer.
Finally, here is an animation of all the images in chronological order. You can see that the probe only flew past the comet. It had the chance to snap only a few pictures. But on the other hand, flybys are vastly easier and cheaper than getting a probe in orbit of a comet.
Move your mouse to rotate the comet. Requires Flash.
