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Astronomy Feb 8, 2022

Comet 2014 UN271 the largest ever observed

A team of researchers with the Paris observatory and Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC, has confirmed that comet 2014 UN271 is the largest comet ever observed. They published a paper describing their findings on ...

Archaeology Feb 1, 2022

Did comet's fiery destruction lead to downfall of ancient Hopewell?

The rapid decline of the Hopewell culture about 1,500 years ago might be explained by falling debris from a near-Earth comet that created a devastating explosion over North America, laying waste to forests and Native American ...

Space Exploration Jan 26, 2022

Solar Orbiter catches a second comet by the tail

For the second time in its mission so far, the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has flown through the tail of a comet. Predicted in advance by astronomers at University College London, UK, the spacecraft collected a wealth ...

Planetary Sciences Dec 28, 2021

SoloHi catches stunning views of 'Christmas comet' Leonard fly by

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory evaluate early data the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft sent back to Earth as it observes comet Leonard, a mass of space dust, rock and ice just over half a mile across (1 ...

Space Exploration Dec 21, 2021

Views of comet Leonard from two sun-watching spacecraft

When Comet Leonard, a mass of space dust, rock and ice about a half-mile (1 kilometer) wide, makes its closest pass of the Sun on Jan. 3, 2022, it will be a journey 40,000 years in the making. Ahead of its close pass, two ...

Astronomy Dec 20, 2021

Comets' heads can be green, but never their tails: After 90 years, we finally know why

Every so often, the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud throw galactic snowballs made up of ice, dust and rocks our way: 4.6-billion-year-old leftovers from the formation of the solar system.

Astronomy Dec 14, 2021

How to see comet Leonard, according to the researcher who discovered it

Now is the best time to get a glimpse of Comet C/2021 A1, better known as Comet Leonard. It's named for its discoverer, Gregory Leonard, a senior research specialist at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

Astronomy Nov 29, 2021

New study shows the largest comet ever observed was active at near-record distance

A new study by University of Maryland astronomers shows that comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (BB), the largest comet ever discovered, was active long before previously thought, meaning the ice within it is vaporizing and forming ...

Astronomy Nov 29, 2021

Comet A1 Leonard brightens in December

Now is the time to start tracking Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard, as it starts its dawn dive sunward.

Astronomy Nov 24, 2021

New findings about ions around comets

Sofia Bergman, Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) and Umeå University, will defend her doctoral thesis on low-energy ions around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 26 November. Observing low energy ions is notoriously ...

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