15 minutes after impact

This image is one of a sequence from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showing the comet before and after the impact. In this image, captured 15 minutes after the collision, Tempel 1 appears four times brighter than in the pre-impact photo. Astronomers noticed that the inner cloud of dust and gas surrounding the comet's nucleus increased by about 200 kilometres in size. The image was taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys' High Resolution Camera.