Aug 18
Look there were a lot of options. NASA streamed
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Mar 28
One of the most impressive things that happened to Jupiter in recorded history was when the planet was pummeled by chunks of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet. The thing with Jupiter is that it has an incredibly thick atmosphere so all we could really see of those impacts were disturbances in the clouds near the top of the planet’s atmosphere. I know I’m not alone in wondering what kind of damage those chunks of comet did to the surface of the gas giant.
Now, scientists and astronomers are saying that next year there is a chance that Mars could be hit by a comet.
How big a chance you say, in science-y speech, the astronomers say it’s “non-negligable.” In real numbers, there is a one-in-2000 chance that the surface of Mars will get nailed by a comet next year.
The comet in question is called C/2013 A1, and was discovered on January 3 of this year by astronomers at the Australian Siding Spring Observatory. If the comet hits the surface of Mars, it will be an incredible spectacle. Whereas we couldn’t see anything that happened on the surface of Jupiter, not only does Mars have a thin atmosphere that doesn’t obscure the surface, we also have rovers on the ground and satellites in orbit around the planet. If the impact happens, it could change Mars significantly, throwing up clouds of dust and debris. The comet is believed to be as large as 1.9 miles wide and traveling at 125,000 mph. If the comet were to hit the red planet, its impact would release energy equivalent to 35 million megatons of TNT.
[via Discovery.com]
Jan 01
Next year could be a very good year for watching comets. A comet was discovered this past September that is expected to fly within 1.2 million miles of the center of the Sun on November 28, 2013. If things go well, as the comet approaches the Sun, its heat will begin to vaporize the ice in the comet’s body creating a spectacular show in the heavens.
Comet ISON comes from the Oort Cloud, which is a cluster of frozen rock and ice that circles the Sun about 50,000 times further away than Earth’s orbit. Every so often material from this cloud breaks free and begins a long trip towards the Sun. Astronomers say that ISON’s path is very similar to a comet that passed the Earth in 1680 that was reported to be so bright it could be seen in daylight.
However, there is a chance that the comet might not survive its brush with the Sun. According to NASA, the comet could break apart as it nears the Sun or fail to produce the tail of particles we hope will be visible from the Earth. If that happens, legions of skywatchers around the world will be sorely disappointed.
Assuming the comet survives, researchers believe that ISON would be visible in the nighttime and early morning sky with the naked eye between October 2013 and January 2014.
[via Reuters]
Oct 01
The Mayan Apocalypse nutcases will pass out when they learn that two Russian astronomers have discovered a new and gigantic comet coming in our direction—a huge two-mile wide ball of ice and rock that “may [become] one of the brightest in history.” The comet is now passing by Saturn, gaining speed and becoming brighter by the day. More »
Jul 24
About 4.1 billion years ago, our solar system was a huge cluster of comets bombarding every planet orbiting the Sun and crashing into each other. That period of chaos is known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, and astronomers believe it was key to the formation of life in our planet. More »
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