|
Home > News > Tags > comets
|
|
30
More: << previous 50 | next 50 >>
Astronomers analyzing the behavior the comet 17P/Holmes exhibited during its last three visits to the inner solar system say that we might see the celestial body blow up in 2014, when it heads towards the Sun for another pass. The object revealed a mysterious and amazing flare three times before, while flying by the ... |
26 January 2011
08:55 GMT |
 |
|
Throughout last month, solar physicists keeping an eye on the Sun have discovered more than 25 small comets slamming straight into the star. They now say that this mob of celestial bodies may in fact be the herald of a much larger comet heading for the solar surface.
The incoming body, they say, could be so large ... |
20 January 2011
01:54 GMT |
|
|
Experts announce that one of the most likely reasons for which the Moon contains such large amounts of water and ice is that comets slammed into its surface billions of years ago. This allowed the chemical to accumulate, and get stored at the most suitable locations on the lunar surface. According to the new data, ... |
10 January 2011
02:56 GMT |
|
|
Recent observations conducted on a large asteroid revealed that the space body may not be a barren rock after all, but rather a dormant comet of some kind, that is only now beginning to come back to life. Astronomers found 596 Scheila, the object in question, more than 100 years ago, and have always been convinced th... |
5 January 2011
03:08 GMT |
|
|
According to the recent discoveries of a scientific investigation, it would appear that water ice and organic molecules are common place in the solar system, and especially on asteroids making their way among the planets. Astronomers were able to make an impressive breakthrough in this field of research when they wer... |
3 January 2011
06:59 GMT |
|
|
A group of French scientists was recently able to identify a new class of particles in the central parts of Antarctica, that analysis show did not originate on our planet. Most likely, the team says, the alien particles came here from outer space, most likely aboard comets. The particles were found by French research... |
30 December 2010
09:04 GMT |
|
|
On December 26, following more than 15 years of non-stop activity, a joint NASA/ESA mission managed to identify its 2,000th comet, while conducting its regular studies of the Sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is operated by both NASA and the European Space Agency, and it has been observing the star s... |
29 December 2010
03:06 GMT |
|
|
New discoveries hint at the fact that comets have far less carbon on their surfaces and at their cores than initially suspected. Experts say that this knowledge may force a rethinking of the role they attribute to these space bodies in the emergence and subsequent development and evolution of life on Earth.For years,... |
16 December 2010
08:37 GMT |
|
|
Astronomers announce that 596Scheila, a space object that has been known for some time, and which was until now believed to be an asteroid, has just revealed that it actually has a tail and come. This, by all definitions, makes is a fully-fledged comet. Experts say that cases in which space rocks turn out to be in fa... |
13 December 2010
07:01 GMT |
|
|
As we reported earlier today, a team of investigators from the Southwest Research Institute determined in a study that elements such as gold and platinum were brought here by space impactors. In the same study, the researchers also showed that those impacts marked the final stages of planetary growth.The NASA-funded ... |
10 December 2010
07:19 GMT |
|
|
Experts managing the EPOXI mission that flew past comet Hartley 2 a couple of weeks ago say that the spacecraft was hit at least nine times by icy debris originating from the space object. Regardless, the probe continued to snap and send back amazing images of the body's nucleus.The flyby took the Deep Impact sp... |
19 November 2010
15:01 GMT |
|
|
The new flyby that the EPOXI spacecraft conducted around comet Hartley 2 demonstrated to researchers that this particular space body is fueled by dry ice, a finding that surprised experts. Astronomers say that many other comets may utilize the same fuel for their jets. This is precisely the type of discovery that exp... |
11 November 2010
06:03 GMT |
|
|
Yesterday, November 4, the EPOXI spacecraft operated by the American space agency flew close to the surface of the Comet Hartley 2, collecting images as it went along, and providing experts with new insight into how the space object looks and behaves like.The point of closest approach was reached at 10 am EDT (1400 G... |
5 November 2010
03:57 GMT |
|
|
At 10:01 am EDT (1401 GMT) today, November 4, the EPOXI mission finally managed to catch up with the Comet Hartley 2 in the inner solar system, concluding a months-long chase that took the spacecraft over millions of miles of space in pursuit of its target. The probe passed very close to the space object, at an estim... |
4 November 2010
10:50 GMT |
|
|
Most people only think of comets as enders of worlds, but some scientists are making a strong case that the space objects are more likely cosmic arks of life, taking life-precursor molecules through space in all directions. Some of these objects may have done this for our planet as well, say investigators. In additio... |
4 November 2010
07:06 GMT |
|
|
Officials at the Purdue University announce the opening of a new online tool called “Impact: Earth,” which can be accessed by everyone, and that can model the potential consequences of an asteroid or comet hitting our planet. The new website allows for the input of various parameters for each scenario, wh... |
3 November 2010
11:05 GMT |
|
|
Scientists using the massive radar dish of the Arecibo Planetary Radar in Puerto Rico are now keeping tabs on the Comet Harley 2, joining the multitude of ground- and space-based observatories that are already doing so. Classified as a medium-sized space body, the comet has become a point of interest for astronomers ... |
29 October 2010
02:36 GMT |
|
|
Mission planers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announce that the EPOXI mission is currently on track to flying by Comet Hartley 2 in a few days, after successfully completing a course correction maneuver. This is one of the final such maneuvers that the former Deep Impact space probe will carry out befor... |
28 October 2010
05:15 GMT |
|
|
As we reported earlier, the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed that space object P/2010 A2 is most likely a pair of colliding asteroids. The same conclusions come from data collected using the Rosetta spacecraft as well.The probe, which is operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), is a comet-chaser, but it happen... |
14 October 2010
05:45 GMT |
|
|
Though the issue of where Saturn's famous rings came from has been debated extensively, a researcher now proposes a groundbreaking new explanation for the peculiar structures. The expert proposes that the beautiful and thin rings that surround the gas giant are the remnants of a Titan-sized moon that slammed int... |
6 October 2010
10:34 GMT |
|
|
Experts operating the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope announce that they have just seen traces of the comet Hartley 2, which the NASA EPOXI mission is getting ready to rendezvous with. The meet-up between the two objects is scheduled to take place on November 4, after the former Deep Impact space... |
6 October 2010
04:27 GMT |
|
|
Even after its primary science mission has been completed, the WISE telescope will continue to conduct studies in Earth's orbit, under what NASA terms the NEOWISE Post-Cryogenic Mission.The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is an observatory that was launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at the Vandenberg Air ... |
5 October 2010
02:47 GMT |
|
|
The EPOXI mission is finally nearing its targets, mission controllers announced recently, saying that the spacecraft has just performed its 20th orbital correction maneuver successfully.Thanks to this accomplishment, the spacecraft is now on track towards meeting up with comet Hartley 2. The event is scheduled to tak... |
1 October 2010
05:21 GMT |
|
|
A team of experts has recently refined a series of astronomical calculations, and determined that the best solution to approach a comet before landing on it is from the south, and with caution.The research is published four years ahead of a planned rendezvous between the Rosetta probe, built by the European Space Age... |
25 September 2010
03:50 GMT |
|
|
A team of experts at NASA announce that the Deep Impact spacecraft has just sent back its first images of the object it's tracking through the depths of space.The main goal of this mission is to collect readings of the Comet Hartley 2, and the way Deep Impact plans to do that is by effectively chasing the space ... |
22 September 2010
02:33 GMT |
|
|
According to the newest discoveries in the field, it would now appear that the ancient Greeks may have witnessed the passing of Halley's Comet, which means that the earliest documented sighting of the space rock is about two centuries older than initially calculated.The new investigation suggests that the Greeks... |
14 September 2010
09:51 GMT |
|
|
The Rosetta spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), has recently beamed back impressive images of the asteroid Lutetia. Astronomers say that the new data deepens the mystery associated with space rocks, rather than clear it up.The photographs were taken as the space probe was flying by Lutetia, with... |
11 August 2010
03:42 GMT |
|
|
Even though Neptune is one of the largest planets in our solar system, astronomers still know very little about how it works. Most of the phenomena going on at its surface are still a mystery to science, but recently astronomers managed to gain a few more insights into the celestial body's history. Using an Euro... |
24 July 2010
04:44 GMT |
|
|
Officials at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announce that a new robotic telescope has just seen its “first light” at the La Silla Observatory complex, in Chile. The TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) is especially designed to study exoplanetary systems, as in stars an... |
8 June 2010
11:10 GMT |
|
|
Astronomers say that a large comet may have stricken the gas giant Neptune not two centuries ago. They base their statement on the fact that the atmosphere surrounding the planet is very rich in carbon monoxide, which had no way of appearing on the space object through natural processes. The findings were presented i... |
28 May 2010
11:11 GMT |
|
|
The famous Shoemaker-Levy comet slammed into Jupiter in 1994. It represented the first direct observation of an instance in which two objects in the solar system collided with each other. The venerable Hubble space telescope, then in its early days, observed the impact, and sent back images of the disintegrating come... |
19 May 2010
16:01 GMT |
|
|
Working in the central parts of Antarctica, in an area near the French-Italian CONCORDIA research station, scientists were recently able to discover two small meteorites. The space rocks were encased inside a 55-year-old snowpack that most likely settled down around the middle of the 20th century. Though they are sma... |
7 May 2010
02:38 GMT |
|
|
Astronomers have for a long time attempted to develop methods of predicting when a comet will begin to emit dust and ice particles from its central region. Called a nucleus, these areas look like they are made of rocks, but they are in fact made of frozen ice. In a recent investigation, a team of experts was finally ... |
4 May 2010
10:33 GMT |
|
|
Astronomers announced yesterday, April 28, that they managed to identify signs of water-ice on an asteroid for the first time ever. The finding is extremely important for our understanding of how Earth evolved shortly after it was formed. If more such space rocks are found carrying the precious stuff, then this would... |
29 April 2010
02:45 GMT |
|
|
About three years ago, astronomers, astrophysicists and skywatchers had the opportunity to behold one of the most spectacular comets to have entered the inner solar system for many years. Called C/2006 P1 McNaught, the celestial body left an impressive mark in the sky, with a tail extending a considerable portion of ... |
13 April 2010
08:41 GMT |
|
|
Eskers and drumlins are two types of little-known landscape features that have been posing a number of questions geologists can't really answer. These structures, which are at times arranged in parallel rows, have for a long time made experts assume that they were created through the action of glaciers, over mil... |
7 April 2010
10:10 GMT |
|
|
Some 102 years ago, a devastating cataclysm razed a huge swath of Siberian forest. Known as the Tunguska explosion, the event was established to have been most likely produced by a space impactor blowing up above the area. It is estimated that the extraterrestrial object had a mass of about 50,000 metric tons and tha... |
31 March 2010
19:01 GMT |
|
|
According to new readings sent back by the NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), one unlucky comet is most likely going to experience a very unpleasant death shortly. It would appear that the ill-fated cosmic object is on a trajectory that will bring it very close to our Sun. Given the fact that most such s... |
13 March 2010
03:34 GMT |
|
|
Assuming we find a way of mitigating the damage we are currently doing on our planet, our children living 1.5 million years in the future could be in a heap of trouble. According to astronomers, there is an 86 percent chance of a nearby orange dwarf star colliding with our solar system eons from now, possibly impacti... |
12 March 2010
09:06 GMT |
|
|
For many years, based on solid scientific evidence, researchers have believed that comets were formed in the outer fringes of the solar system, out of material that also created the planets and the moons billions of years ago. This theory seemed to be very sound, and therefore gained wide acceptance among astronomers... |
26 February 2010
03:07 GMT |
|
|
The current NASA Stardust probe is a mission aimed at flying thorough the tail of a comet, collecting dust samples, and returning these samples back to Earth. It builds on a previous Stardust mission, which was launched in 1999 and returned home in 2006. The new mission took off in 2007, and is scheduled to meet up w... |
19 February 2010
02:04 GMT |
|
|
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope launched less than two months ago, but it's already sending back viable scientific data. Having already discovered its first asteroid, as well as the first comet, the instrument has also provided mission controllers with sufficient dataset to create the fi... |
18 February 2010
03:37 GMT |
|
|
P/2010 B2 (WISE) is the name astronomers gave to the first comet that the new NASA WISE telescope has discovered. Launched only a few weeks ago, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has already found its first asteroid, and is expected to find several thousands of additional space rocks at it conducts its survey. ... |
12 February 2010
03:03 GMT |
|
|
Astronomers strongly believe that collisions among space rocks are fairly common, and also that these events may have played a significant role in the development of planets in the early stages of their respective solar systems. But, until now, no such space-based collision, or whatever resulted from one, was imaged.... |
3 February 2010
01:07 GMT |
|
|
International experts gathered earlier this month in Mexico City deemed it necessary to promote the creation of a new international warning and defense system against meteorites. Other types of space rocks are included in the decision as well. Recent reports have revealed that our planet is very ill-equipped to handl... |
30 January 2010
03:50 GMT |
|
|
For more than 30 years, astronomers have been puzzled by the fact that Jupiter's moons Ganymede and Callisto are very different from each other. The two celestial bodies are made out of a very similar mixture of ice and rock, and are about the same size, but their surfaces and interior states vary widely. This d... |
25 January 2010
03:10 GMT |
|
|
While scanning our solar system's outer asteroid field, known as the Kuiper Belt, astronomers managed to make a very impressing find. They determined the existence of a very small space object among the debris, no more than one mile wide. This finding makes the rock the smallest one ever discovered in our Sun�... |
30 December 2009
03:08 GMT |
|
|
Ever since modern astronomy began, those studying space have always been concerned about possible meteorites, meteors, asteroids or comets that could enter a collision course with our planet. With the example of what happened to the dinosaurs, and with five extinction events already in the bag, it stands to reason th... |
18 December 2009
09:04 GMT |
|
|
Over the years, as scientists browsed satellite data or took to the field, numerous comet and asteroid impact sites have been discovered on the surface of our small planet. But experts believe that many more may still be out there, unknown to Science. Finding them is very important, because they could provide a windo... |
14 December 2009
14:11 GMT |
|
|
The basic chemicals making up the things that allow for life on our planet – the atmosphere and the oceans – may have come from outer space, and be of extraterrestrial origins. The assessment belongs to a group of researchers from the University of Manchester, in the UK, and University of Houston, in the ... |
11 December 2009
21:01 GMT |
|
More: << previous 50 | next 50 >> |
|
|
Find us on Google+
