The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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The Hubble Space Telescope was 120 million kilometres away from the comet when this image was taken by the high-resolution Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The telescope's views complement close-up images being taken by cameras aboard Deep Impact, which is speeding toward the comet.
This image, taken at 7:17 (UT/GMT) on 14 June, shows Tempel 1 before the outburst. The bright dot is light reflecting from the comet’s nucleus, which appears star-like in these images because it is too small even for Hubble to resolve. The nucleus, a potato-shaped object, is 14 kilometres wide and 4 kilometres long.