Photos of Comet Tempel 1 From NASA Space Missions

Four Views of Comet Tempel 1

This image mosaic shows four different views of comet Tempel 1 as seen by NASA's Stardust spacecraft as it flew by on Feb. 14, 2011. The images progress in time beginning at upper left, moving to upper right, then proceeding from lower left to lower right.

Comet Tempel 1 as Seen by NASA's Stardust

NASA's Stardust-NExT mission took this image of comet Tempel 1 at 8:39 p.m. PST (11:39 p.m. EST) on Feb 14, 2011. The comet was first visited by NASA's Deep Impact mission in 2005.

New Territory on Tempel 1

This image obtained by NASA's Stardust spacecraft shows a side of the nucleus of comet Tempel 1 that has never been seen before. In the image, three terraces of different elevations are visible, with dark, banded scarps, or slopes, separating them.

Deep Impact's Effect on Tempel 1

This pair of images shows a before-and-after comparison of the area on comet Tempel 1 targeted by an impactor from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft in July 2005.

Changes to Smooth Terrain (Unannotated)

This image layout depicts changes in the surface of comet Tempel 1, observed first by NASA's Deep Impact Mission in 2005 (top right) and again by NASA's Stardust-NExT mission on Feb. 14, 2011 (bottom right).

Changes to Smooth Terrain (Annotated)

This image layout depicts changes in the surface of comet Tempel 1, observed first by NASA's Deep Impact Mission in 2005 (top right) and again by NASA's Stardust-NExT mission on Feb. 14, 2011 (bottom right).

Tempel 1 Impact Site

This pair of images shows the before-and-after comparison of the part of comet Tempel 1 that was hit by the impactor from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft.

Stardust-NExT Spacecraft Meets Comet Tempel 1

Comet Tempel 1 has been the target of two NASA missions. Here, an artist envisions what the approach of NASA's Stardust-NExT spacecraft may look like when it arrives at Comet Tempel 1 on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) in 2011.

Comet Tempel 1: First Flyby Photo from Stardust

NASA's Stardust-NExT mission transmitted the first image it took during its approach to comet Tempel 1 at 8:35 p.m. PST (11:35 p.m. EST) on Feb. 14, 2011, from a distance of approximately 2,462 kilometers (1,530 miles). The comet was first visited by NASA's Deep Impact mission in 2005.

Be My Valentine

The first image of comet Tempel 1 taken by NASA's Stardust spacecraft is a composite made from observations on Jan. 18 and 19, 2011. The panel on the right highlights the location of comet Tempel 1 in the frame. On Valentine's Day (Feb. 14 in U.S. time zones), Stardust will fly within about 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the comet's nucleus.

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

This image shows comet Tempel 1 approximately 5 minutes before Deep Impact's probe smashed into its surface. It was taken by the probe's impactor targeting sensor.