Search results for comets

Space Exploration May 21, 2020

ATLAS telescope discovers first-of-its-kind asteroid with a comet-like tail

We often think of asteroids and comets as distinct types of small bodies, but astronomers have discovered an increasing number of "crossovers." These objects initially appear to be asteroids, and later develop activity, such ...

Space Exploration May 20, 2020

Coming to a sky near you: Comet SWAN at its best

Comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN), perhaps the brightest comet we will see this year, is at its best from now until mid-June. It should be visible in from the UK in the northwestern sky after sunset, close to the horizon.

Space Exploration May 13, 2020

The discovery of Comet SWAN by solar-watcher SOHO

Currently crossing the skies above Earth, Comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) has the potential to become a more prominent naked eye object by late May or early June. Yet it wasn't discovered by someone looking up at the night sky. Instead, ...

Space Exploration Apr 28, 2020

Hubble captures breakup of comet ATLAS

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided astronomers with the sharpest view yet of the breakup of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). The telescope resolved roughly 30 fragments of the fragile comet on 20 April and 25 pieces ...

Space Exploration Apr 27, 2020

Swift mission tallied water from interstellar comet Borisov

For the first time, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory tracked water loss from an interstellar comet as it approached and rounded the Sun. The object, 2I/Borisov, traveled through the solar system in late 2019.

Astronomy Apr 20, 2020

Interstellar comet 2I/Borisov: Carbon monoxide abundance points to birth around cooler star

Interstellar comet 2I/Borisov is providing a glimpse of another star system's planetary building blocks, using new observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomy Apr 20, 2020

ALMA reveals unusual composition of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov

A galactic visitor entered our solar system last year—interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. When astronomers pointed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward the comet on 15 and 16 December 2019, for the first ...

Space Exploration Apr 17, 2020

Fragmentation of comet ATLAS observed on the first crowd-sourced pictures from citizen astronomers

A group of citizen astronomers scattered all over the world has just demonstrated how a network of digital Unistellar eVscopes can work together to deliver the first-of-its-kind crowd-generated images of Comet ATLAS while ...

Earth Sciences Mar 26, 2020

Simulation: Dust could have spread evenly over Earth after Chicxulub asteroid strike

Two researchers, one with the Planetary Science Institute, the other Imperial College, have created a simulation that they believe shows how dust could have spread so evenly over the whole Earth after the Chicxulub asteroid ...

Space Exploration Mar 23, 2020

Comet ATLAS may put on quite a show

A comet called Atlas is currently heading toward the sun, and it just might put on a really good show in a couple of months. Discovered last December by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert system in Hawaii (thus the ...

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