Abstract
The television system (TVS) aboard the spacecraft Vega 1 and Vega 2 observed comet Halley from 4 to 11 March 1986, and transmitted ∼1,500 images to Earth. The best images of the cometary nucleus were obtained from distances of 8,000–9,000 km. The nucleus is an irregular potato-shaped body, ∼14 × 7.5 × 7.5 km in size, which rotates with a period of 53±3 h. The surface is rather dark; the measured albedo is ∼0.04−0.01+0.02. Active emission of matter was observed on the sunlit side of the nucleus.
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Sagdeev, R., Szabó, F., Avanesov, G. et al. Television observations of comet Halley from Vega spacecraft. Nature 321 (Suppl 6067), 262–266 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/321262a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/321262a0
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