Tunguska Event Triggered by Comet, Researchers Say
	On June 30, 1908, at about 7:00 a.m., a cosmic body entering Earth's atmosphere exploded several kilometers above ground in a remote region of Siberia, known as Tunguska, leveling more than 80 million trees spread over an area of 2,000 square kilometers. Estimations place the force of the explosion to about 200 times that of the nuclear device dropped over Hiroshima in 1945. No impact crater or fragments of the object have ever been f ... [read more >>]
	23 July 2008, 03:51GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Comet Might Have Hit Earth during the Last Ice Age
	A new study shows that the massive explosion of a comet into Earth's atmosphere during the last Ice Age might have rained diamonds and precious metals over the North American continent, leading to the mass killing of both animals and humans alike. In fact, most of the diamonds and precious metal deposits in several states across the Unites States did not even originate there but were brought from the northern Canadian territories, alt ... [read more >>]
	08 July 2008, 03:14GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Rosetta Powers Up for Encounter with Mysterious Asteroid
	Europe's comet chaser, the Rosetta spacecraft, was powered up last week in anticipation for the fly-by around asteroid 2867 Steins scheduled to take place on September 5th, 2008. Rosetta was originally designed and launched in order to approach and study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with which the spacecraft will meet somewhere around the first half of 2014. Rosetta was launched into space by the European Space Ag ... [read more >>]
	07 July 2008, 03:30GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

SOHO Scores 1,500th Found Comet
	The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory was first designed for a mission destined to study the Sun and its activity, which is what it still continues to do after nearly 13 years since it was launched into space by the European Space Agency. Who would have thought back then that SOHO would later become the biggest comet discoverer in all history? On June 25, SOHO set a new world record by discovering its 1,500th comet. The disc ... [read more >>]
	01 July 2008, 02:47GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Researcher Gets Newly Discovered Mineral Named After Him
	An international collaboration between scientists from the United States, Germany and Japan concluded its investigation recently with the discovery of a new mineral compound of manganese silicide, named Brownleeite, which probably originated from a periodical comet that passes through the inner regions of the solar system every 5 years. The 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup comet, the most likely source of the mineral, was originally discovered in 1902 ... [read more >>]
	13 June 2008, 05:40GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Space Rocks Could Re-Colonize Earth
	Asteroid and comet collisions usually bring havoc to Earth, often provoking mass extinctions, but they can also seed life. In fact, we're most likely the product of such an event that took place several hundred million years ago. The last large impact that occurred is dated about 65 million years in the past and was probably responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The impact would have r ... [read more >>]
	15 May 2008, 10:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mass Extinctions Blamed on the Sun's Path Through the Galaxy
	As it travels through the Milky Way, the Sun experiences a periodical oscillation in relation to the galactic plane, meaning that the solar system intersects with some of the densest areas of the galaxy. This in turn can send comets and asteroids our way and determine catastrophic impacts with the Earth, such as that which killed the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. The same impacts could help spread life to other regions of the galaxy ... [read more >>]
	13 May 2008, 09:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Astronomer Looks for Planet, Finds Comet
	You know how they say you'll never find what you're actually looking for? It’s true, don't try to prove otherwise because I don't think you can. Last year during late October, comet Holmes suddenly suffered an outburst, thus enhancing its brightness more than one million times in the matter of a few days. In the following weeks, Holmes came to be the biggest object in the solar system, exceeding even the diame ... [read more >>]
	04 April 2008, 03:33GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Meteor Shower Spotted on Mars
	Meteor showers occur on Earth every year. Some individual meteors streaming through the Martian atmosphere have been observed as well, however this is the first time when a full meteor shower is detected. By tracking the paths of the comets passing through the vicinity of Mars, UK scientists believe that they can predict meteor showers on Mars the same way meteor showers are predicted back here on Earth. "Just as we can predict me ... [read more >>]
	02 April 2008, 04:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

No Primordial Soup Without Meteorites
	Add water, a mix of complex chemical substance, sunlight and you might eventually end up creating life. And don't forget about adding meteorites! Only if things were so easy. Previously, scientists believed that the primordial soup, from which the first living being emerged, was formed of ingredients found only here on Earth. Now, researchers from the Carnegie Institution argue that it might have been more than that, as they have rece ... [read more >>]
	13 March 2008, 11:20GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Comet Wild 2 Has Asteroid-like Composition
	The Stardust mission brings surprising new evidence once again. After the initial sample analysis revealed that most of the material inside comet Wild 2 originated in the inner regions of the solar system, now scientists have shown that, against general belief that comets are fluffy dust objects, they could instead have similar composition to that of the asteroids. In 2004 the Stardust mission succeeded in approaching the main bo ... [read more >>]
	25 January 2008, 03:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

8P/Tuttle Has Peanut-shaped Nucleus
	The comet responsible for the Ursid meteor shower taking place every late December, 8P/Tuttle, made its closest approach to Earth on January 2nd this year. However, its swing through the inner regions of the solar system brought it only about 37 million kilometers away from Earth, too great a distance to conduct optical observations on its main body. To fix this little problem, astronomers chose to compensate using the Arecibo Ra ... [read more >>]
	16 January 2008, 02:52GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Comet Tuttle Will Put Up Quite a Show This Month
	Being the eighth comet ever recognized as to be periodical, the comet Tuttle should be visible in the next two weeks without the aid of optical instruments. Having an orbital period of 13.7 years, the comet 8P/Tuttle is one of the brightest of the short-period comets. Furthermore, while watching after Tuttle, you should also check for the famous comet Holmes, which, in late October last year, suffered a powerful outburst that det ... [read more >>]
	05 January 2008, 06:49GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Phaethon Spied During Close Earth Approach
	The asteroid responsible for the Geminid meteor shower which takes place every December, 3200 Phaethon, made its closest passing through the vicinity of the planet Earth since its discovery in 1983. The event, which took place on the 10th of December last year, was anticipated by the Arecibo Observatory, which pointed its telescope towards the cosmic object on December 8. Most of the meteor showers which take place on Earth ... [read more >>]
	03 January 2008, 04:39GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Facts About Comets
	The past civilizations on Earth mostly regarded the comets as messengers of destruction and rarely as bringers of good or prosperity, while the scientists today think they might have played a key role in the formation of our planet and view them as carriers of possible information about the galaxy, and the formation of the solar system. These dusty-icy objects were presumed to have delivered the water on Earth during collisio ... [read more >>]
	27 December 2007, 05:15GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Smaller Asteroids are More Dangerous
	When it comes to asteroids size really doesn't mater, as they can hit Earth's atmosphere with forces similar to those of bigger cousins. This information is even more baffling when you take into consideration that in our effort to detect the biggest threats posed by asteroids to Earth we have been unable to develop a program that would monitor the bodies with diameters smaller that 140 meters. Furthermore, statistical calculation ... [read more >>]
	19 December 2007, 05:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Unpredictable Cometary Orbit Sends Deep Impact to Hartley 2
	After studying the 8P/Tempel comet, in order to determine its density, structure and composition characteristics, the Deep Impact spacecraft has recently been redirected on a trajectory that will take it on a two and a half years trip, to rendezvous with the Hartley 2 comet around the year 2010. Originally, the spacecraft's controllers wanted to send it to the 85P/Boethin comet, which has only been observed twice in recorded history, ... [read more >>]
	17 December 2007, 08:08GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Deep Impact Mothership Receives Secondary Mission
	Launched in January 2005, the Deep Impact space probe was the first spacecraft ever to probe the interior of a comet's nucleus, by sending a impactor slamming right into it. Previous missions such as Giotto and Stardust were employed only to make fly-by passes through the vicinity of the nucleus of the comets that they were studying, taking pictures and making observations of the cometary material from a distance. Seven months afte ... [read more >>]
	14 December 2007, 06:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Don't Miss Tonight's Geminid Meteor Shower
	As its name says, the Geminid meteor shower originates from a point close to the Gemini constelation, near the Castor star, and represents one of the most satisfying annual meteor showers, in some years even surpassing the famous Perseids meteor shower that occurs in the month of August. It is triggered by the passing of an asteroid, not a comet as most of the other meteor showers. The 3200 Phaethon asteroid is most likely the remnant core ... [read more >>]
	14 December 2007, 04:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Next Meteor Shower: Ursids
	The Ursids meteors shower usually begins on the 17th of December every year, and lasts for more than a week, until 25th or 26th of December. Its name comes from the point where it seems to radiate, which is somewhere near the star Beta Ursae Minor, in the constellation of Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper. It is provoked by the passing of the periodical comet 8P/Tuttle, and though in other years the meteor shower had a relatively ... [read more >>]
	13 December 2007, 07:45GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Best Night Spectacle this Year: December 13rd
	This year, the Geminid Meteor Shower will peak on the night of 13-14 December, and is thought to make quite a show on the night sky, or as astronomers David Levy and Stephen Edberg would say, 'if you haven't seen a Geminid fireball, then you haven't seen a meteor'. This particular meteor shower gets its name from the Gemini constellation, from which they seem to have originated, as seen from the surface of the Earth ... [read more >>]
	07 December 2007, 10:10GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Look Towards the Sky this Weekend: Leonid Meteor Shower is Back
	Leonid Meteor Shower is associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The event gets its name from the region of the sky, from which the meteors seem to radiate, since they stream down to Earth from a single point. The meteor shower takes place every year around the date of 17th of November, plus or minus a week, when the Earth's orbit intersects the stream of meteoroid particles, left behind by the passages of the comet. The ... [read more >>]
	16 November 2007, 09:17GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Near-Miss Asteroid. Or Not?
	Last weekend, the Minor Planet Center announced they detected a Near Earth Object that would miss the Earth only by 5,600 kilometers. The newly discovered object, has been given an official name by the MPC, run by Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. 2007 VN84 was tracked by a number of astronomers around the world to determine the threat this object poses. It would be the closest approach of a sizable asteroid, located at a distance ... [read more >>]
	13 November 2007, 03:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Holmes Comet is Still Seeking Attention
	Five months after reaching perihelion, Holmes comet produces its second ever observed and recorded outburst in history. The comet has enhanced its brightness about one million times in only a few weeks. Discovered in 1893 by British astronomer Edwin Holmes during a similar outburst, the comet is about 3.3 kilometers across and about 25.000 fainter than the naked eye can see. The comet is usually invisible on the night sky, but on 23rd O ... [read more >>]
	06 November 2007, 07:15GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Don't Miss the Orionid Meteor Shower Show This Weekend!
	Are you ready? You will not see this again until next year: Halley's comet will bring forth the magnificent Orionid meteor shower at its peak this week. The show is triggered by fragments of this "king star" amongst other comets. You could see these days 15 or 20 meteors an hour by the naked eye. The Orionid shower is not the most impressive, but the most predictable one in timing and intensity. "They ... [read more >>]
	19 October 2007, 05:08GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Will Comet Tail Cut Off During Sun Storm Turn it Dangerous to Earth?
	Something that was witnessed for the first time by astronomers wreaked havoc in space: the impact between a comet and a solar hurricane. The cosmic crash was captured by a NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) satellite on April 20 and cut off the Encke comet's plasma tail while moving within Mercury's orbit. "We were awestruck when we first saw these images. The surprise of seeing the disconnec ... [read more >>]
	08 October 2007, 03:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Hybrid Asteroid-Comet
	This weird space object observed repeatedly plunging close to the Sun has been puzzling astronomers: is it a comet or an asteroid? Now, it seems like a comet playing the asteroid. P/2007 R5 was first detected passing near the Sun in 1999 and spotted again in 2003 by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. Sebastian Hoenig of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, realized it could have been the ... [read more >>]
	27 September 2007, 05:27GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Further Evidence of an American Armageddon 12,900 Years Ago. When's the Next?
	Only a skilled space driller like Bruce Willis could have saved the mammoths and Ice Age Americans about 12,900 years ago. Scientists tried to explain the mammoths' disappearance by human overhunting, climate change and disease, but there is an increasingly plausible hypothesis stating that a comet or low-density meteorite exploded in the planet's upper atmosphere, causing a devastating wave of destruction that killed most of the ... [read more >>]
	25 September 2007, 04:33GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Unique: A Star with a 13 Light-Years Long Tail!
	Some think they are actually a star. Some think they are comets. Astronomers have just found a distant star that moves through space at enormous speeds and has a huge, comet-like tail. The tail is colossal, 13 light years in length and was detected by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) space telescope. Mira A is the first star of this type ever discovered and will help researchers understand what happens when a sta ... [read more >>]
	17 August 2007, 03:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

13,000 Years Ago, the American Armageddon Wiped Out the First Americans
	Now we have Bruce Willis to save us, but 13,000 years ago, the Americans didn’t have their hero to save them from the Armageddon they experienced. New proof brought by a team from the University of California at Santa Barbara shows that a large comet may have exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, explaining the puzzle of a sudden cooling of much of the planet and the extinction of megafauna, such as the mammoths. &quo ... [read more >>]
	16 August 2007, 04:52GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Could This Comet Hit Earth in the Next Millennium?
	This comet is one of the few that really spawned some controversy regarding the possibility of a collision with Earth and was even classified as having "a non-zero possibility of impact." This means it could hit our planet or the Moon, sometime around 3044, or at least that is what astronomers thought about four decades ago. There are some problems with this comet, starting from the fact that its trajectory has been found to ... [read more >>]
	17 July 2007, 06:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Comets Are More Related to One Another Than Previously Thought
	Each new piece of a comet brings scientists closer to understanding some of the most important events in the Universe and a recent analysis indicates that many comets may be related to one another, even more than previously thought. Comets are celestial bodies that orbit stars like our Sun and are well known for their "tails" produced by the effects of solar radiation upon the comet's nucleus. Most of them are ... [read more >>]
	12 July 2007, 09:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Two Old Space Probes Sent to Visit a Comet
	Two old space probes just received new assignments, after they had fulfilled their original missions. Deep Impact and Stardust are the two robotic space travelers that NASA decided to reactivate and send to chase Comet Tempel 1. Deep Impact is a NASA space probe launched on January 12, 2005 that was designed to study the composition of the interior of the comet Tempel 1 by colliding a section of the spacecraft into the comet ... [read more >>]
	04 July 2007, 02:48GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Ancient Comet Exploded Over Earth, Nearly Wiped Out Life In Northern Hemisphere
	A group of scientists discovered new compelling evidence of a cataclysmic event that took place 13,000 years ago on Earth. A large comet exploded over the Earth and created a hail of fireballs that set most of the Northern Hemisphere on fire. After analyzing 26 different sites in Europe and North America, they found a layer of microscopic diamonds that are thought to be the remains of the giant comet, which must have contained importan ... [read more >>]
	21 May 2007, 08:42GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Secret of Titan's Smog
	Saturn's moon, Titan, has a strange atmosphere, and astronomers are very interested in finding the source of the phenomena that led to the forming of the only nitrogen-rich mix of gases in the solar system. From this point of view, the atmospheric mixture is somewhat close to that of the Earth in complexity. Titan is 50 percent larger than our Moon in diameter, and it's even larger by diameter and mass than all known dwarf pla ... [read more >>]
	17 May 2007, 15:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Halley's Comet Will Produce Spectacular Meteor Shower on Sunday
	On Sunday, a meteor shower will occur when fragments dragged along by Halley's Comet will enter and burn in the night sky. Called the eta Aquarid meteor shower because their radiant appears to lie in the constellation Aquarius, near one of the constellation's brightest stars, Eta Aquarii, they are not exactly one of the best meteor showers, only the best visible in the southern hemisphere and the moonlight will ma ... [read more >>]
	05 May 2007, 06:05GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia