Mission Update
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More Images from the Preliminary Impact Results
11.13.09
 | Left: The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact. The field of view of the spectrometers are indicated by the red circle.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |
 | Left: The view of the floor of Cabeus as seen through the LCROSS near-infrared camera. The fresh crater made by the Centaur impact is indicated.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |
 | Left: A zoom-in of the fresh Centaur impact as seen in the LCROSS near-infrared camera.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |
 | Left: All LCROSS instruments worked during descent with each one returning data at critical times. Shown here are the near-infrared downward viewing spectrometer and ultraviolet /visible spectrometer.
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 | Left: Data from the down-looking near-infrared spectrometer. The vertical hashing on each data point (black dots) are error bars. The troughs and dips are the result of various compounds absorbing NIR light. These data are the average of spectra taken between 20 to 60 seconds after impact.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |
 | Left: Data from the down-looking near-infrared spectrometer. The red curve shows how the spectra would look for a "grey" or "colorless" warm (230 C) dust cloud. The smooth curve shows no compounds being absorbed.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |
 | Left: Data from the down-looking near-infrared spectrometer with a model that contains more compounds. A continued effort going forward will be to uniquely identify the various compounds responsible for the spectral features.
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 | Left: The ratio of pre- to post-impact ultraviolet/visible light data. Each line shows a individual ratio of scans starting with earlier times (pre-impact) at the bottom, and later times, moving up. The general increase over time is the result of sunlight reflecting off dust grains in the ejecta cloud. The sharp vertical features which appear shortly after impact, indicated in the shaded blue area, are the emission lines associated with OH. The eight, or strength, of these lines are related to the amount of OH, and hence water, present in sunlight.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |
 | Left: The OH emission lines strength plotted as a function of time. Before impact the line is flat (no OH). After impact the line strength grows and remains above the pre-impact baseline for several minutes.
Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution. |