NASA's TESS Catches a Comet Outburst in Unprecedented Detail

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers at the University of Maryland (UMD), in College Park, Maryland, have captured a clear start-to-finish image sequence of an explosive emission of dust, ice and gases during the close approach of comet 46P/Wirtanen in late 2018.

This is the most complete and detailed observation to date of the formation and dissipation of a naturally-occurring #comet #outburst. The team members reported their results in the November 22 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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NASA's TESS Catches a Comet Outburst in Unprecedented Detail,