Just in time for the 4th July there may be a firework of "cosmical" proportions. Today/tomorrow the comet TEMPEL 1 will be targeted by a space-probe DEEP IMPACT who has shoot a little fellow - the "impactor" - made of Copper and weighing about 372 kg (996.66 troy pds), for colliding with TEMPEL 1 at a closing velocity of 10 km/s or 23,000 mph. This all in a "secure" distance from Earth of 133 Mill. kms.
It is planned that the comet overtakes the impactor and the impactor disintegrates upon impact and a shock wave carrying the energy of the moving s/c mass plows into the comet. Depending on structure of the comet (density and porosity) the shock wave will travel a short distance or a long distance...
If you want to know, when this is about to happen, have a look at...
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/faq5.html
E.g. New York City, New York at about 1:52 am EDT, on 4 July
Interesting although, why the "projectile" is made of Copper. Those stories from "not polluting the original surface" are simply laughable...
Most of today's "accepted" astronomy/cosmology is based on the 17th century assumption that electrical fields, currents, and plasma discharges are not important in space. Only gravitational and magnetic fields are important. A "mechanical Universe"...
It's likely possible that the solar wind is NOT merely a "wind" that blows the gases from a comet away from the Sun to form its tail as a "tail" should disperse like smoke in a strong wind.
The idea that all objects in the universe are at the same electrical potential - namely "zero", has kept astrophysics still with ol' Sir Isaac Newton and his "popolar mechanics". The solar wind does not "drive" a comet's tail mechanically!! Observations show that a comet is highly negatively charged in relation to the Sun.
In 1996, the Ulysses probe, studying the Sun, surprised scientists when it encountered the ion tail of Comet Hyakutake. The comet was then 360 million miles from the spacecraft! That is about four times the distance of the Earth from the Sun!! To remain intact over that distance the tail of a comet must carry electrical current to prevent its dispersal. Just remember what happened with Comet NEAT C/2002 V1!
Comets exhibit odd orbital behaviour due to what is euphemistically known as a "non-gravitational" force. The obvious suggestion was made that cometary jets act upon the nucleus to modify its orbit. However, it is natural for a charged body to experience an electrical acceleration in the Sun's weak radial electric field.
Being "electrical" - you may sense WHY the impactor was made of Copper. Ther could happen an electrical discharge between the comet nucleus and the copper projectile, so exceeding the fact of a simple "physical" impact.
Signs of electrical discharges BEFORE THE actual impact could be observed as high-energy bursts of electrical noise across the spectrum, a "flash" from infra-red to ultraviolet and the enhanced emission of x-rays from the vicinity of the projectile. The energy of a mechanical impact would not be sufficient to generate x-rays...
Copper can sustain a much higher current density than rocks or ice. There would then be the likelihood of an intense arc, with the observation of Copper atoms ionized to a surprisingly high degree!! This could be detected from Earth-based telescopes easily. Moreover the electrical discharges through the body of a poor conductor (rock or ice) can be disruptive and lead to a probable breakup of the comet.
War on Error, Part 996.66: "Deep impacts in the foundations of the Temple"
Far Sight 3
