Late Monday night, NASA’s Stardust-NExt spacecraft will make a close flyby of the comet Tempel 1, destined for fiery destruction by the sun.

This will be the second comet rendezvous for Stardust-NExT, which caught dusty bits of comet Wild 2 in 2004 and sent them back to Earth.

It will also be the second encounter with a spacecraft for Tempel 1, which collided with the Deep Impact probe in 2005. Combined with Deep Impact’s visit, the Stardust-NExT flyby will give astronomers their first view of a complete cometary circuit around the sun, and the best picture yet of how the sun devours a comet.

“We know that comets lose material,” said astronomer Joe Veverka of Cornell University, principal investigator of the Stardust-NExT mission, in a recent press conference. “But the question is, how does the surface change, and where does the surface change?”

At closest approach, Stardust-NExT will come within 120 miles of the comet’s core. Astronomers hope to get a good look at the scars Deep Impact left behind, and to map some uncharted territory on the comet’s dusty, icy surface. Of particular interest are parts of the surface that look like they’re layered like a stack of pancakes. Another intriguing spot is a large plateau that looks like material flowed across it in the recent past.

The flyby will air live on NASA TV from 11:30 pm Eastern time on Feb. 14 to 1 am Eastern time on Feb. 15. The spacecraft is expected to make its closest approach at 11:37, although confirmation won’t reach Earth until 11:56. But if you don’t want to stay up that late, we’ll have a re-cap tomorrow.

Image: Comet Tempel 1 immediately after its brief, explosive relationship with Deep Impact. Credit: NASA

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