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Astronomy Mar 14, 2022

Comet 67P's abundant oxygen more of an illusion, new study suggests

When the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft discovered abundant molecular oxygen bursting from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) in 2015, it puzzled scientists. They had never seen a comet emit oxygen, let alone ...

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 ...

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.

Earth Sciences Oct 21, 2021

How asteroid, comet strikes may have delayed evolution of the atmosphere

Between 2.5 and 4 billion years ago, a time known as the Archean eon, Earth's weather could often be described as cloudy with a chance of asteroid.

Astronomy Aug 23, 2021

Interstellar comets like Borisov may not be all that rare

In 2019, astronomers spotted something incredible in our backyard: a rogue comet from another star system. Named Borisov, the icy snowball traveled 110,000 miles per hour and marked the first and only interstellar comet ever ...

Astronomy May 19, 2021

Heavy metal vapors unexpectedly found in comets throughout our Solar System—and beyond

A new study by a Belgian team using data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) has shown that iron and nickel exist in the atmospheres of comets throughout our Solar System, even those ...

Astronomy Mar 30, 2021

First interstellar comet may be the most pristine ever found

New observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) indicate that the rogue comet 2I/Borisov, which is only the second and most recently detected interstellar visitor to our Solar System, ...

Planetary Sciences Mar 5, 2021

Comet Catalina suggests comets delivered carbon to rocky planets

In early 2016, an icy visitor from the edge of our solar system hurtled past Earth. It briefly became visible to stargazers as Comet Catalina before it slingshotted past the Sun to disappear forevermore out of the solar system.

Astronomy Feb 15, 2021

Comet or asteroid: What killed the dinosaurs and where did it come from?

It forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago.

Astronomy Sep 21, 2020

Rosetta spacecraft detects unexpected ultraviolet aurora at a comet

Data from Southwest Research Institute-led instruments aboard ESA's Rosetta spacecraft have helped reveal auroral emissions in the far ultraviolet around a comet for the first time.

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