In less than 12 hours as I write this, the Deep Impact probe will slam into comet P/9 Tempel 1 (or just Tempel 1 to its friends). The impactor (an 800 pound mini-probe) has been released successfully, and is on its way to destiny. Impact is scheduled for 10:52 Pacific (US) time tonight.
If you live in the UK (or have access to the BBC), there is a program called StarDate that will cover much of the event live. I was interviewed for it the other day. My segment is with host Brian Cox, and we talk about the real-life science of the movie "Deep Impact". You can find more info on my bulletin board (with a picture too). I'll be observing the comet tonight, using my school's new robotic telescope named GORT. If you want to see the impact for yourself, you'll need a fairly big 'scope (with at ...
