Tagged: Comet

After shining in telescopes and camera views through 2021, the comet is no more. The brightest comet of 2021 has disintegrated, according to EarthSky. An icy wanderer known as Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) fell apart during its perihelion, or closest approach to the sun, the...

Astronomers proposed a novel explanation Monday for the strange appearance of the comet carrying Europe’s robot probe Philae through outer space: alien microscopic life. Many of the frozen dust ball’s features, which include a black crust over lakes of ice, flat-bottomed craters and mega-boulders scattered...

A comet streaking through space with a European robot lab riding piggyback will skirt the Sun this week, setting another landmark in an extraordinary quest to unravel the origins of life on Earth. Scientists hope the heat of perihelion—when the comet comes closest to the...

New research indicates the object from beyond our solar system is also the most pristine comet ever seen. A comet named 2I/Borisov became just the second interstellar object to be observed in our solar system (the first one is a little more famous) when it...

It forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago. The Chicxulub impactor, as it’s known, left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico that spans 93 miles and runs 12 miles deep. Its devastating impact brought the reign of...

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. Among the many observatories that captured...

Sixty-six million years ago, a huge celestial object struck off the coast of what is now Mexico, triggering a catastrophic “impact winter” that eventually wiped out three-quarters of life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. A pair of astronomers at Harvard say they have now resolved...

A MYSTERIOUS comet that has just entered our Solar System could be carrying ‘alien water’, according to a new study. Researchers analysing the interstellar 2I/Borisov comet think that it’s releasing water vapour as it zooms closer to us from light-years away. Scientists have been comparing...

STARGAZERS in the northern hemisphere are in for a treat this week as there’s a chance to spot Comet Neowise with the naked eye. The comet is currently heading past Earth and is set to reach its closest point on July 23. There’s a chance...

Skywatchers in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the sight of a newly discovered comet this month. The comet, dubbed C/2020 F3, was discovered in March by NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope. AMATEUR ASTRONOMER USED NASA SATELLITE DATA TO DISCOVER NEW COMET   “As of July 7,...