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Halley's Comet Wrap-Up

Halley's Comet Wrap-Up
Halley's Comet Wrap-Up With images like this one, scientists were at last able to take a close look at the nucleus of Halley's Comet. Here sunlight is coming from the left, heating the icy body so that dust and gas jets erupt from its surface. Near the top are bright spots, and below them is a crater-like feature about 1.5 kilometers in diameter. This could be a slump feature formed by the outgassing of nearby jets. Below and right of the "crater" is a bright feature about 400 meters high that some scientists call "the mountain." Image taken by the Halley Multicolor Camera. ©1986 Max Planck Institut für Aeronomie, Lindau/Harz, F. R. G., provided by H. J. Reitsema and W. A. Delamere, Ball Aerospace