MetaFilter posts tagged with Comet

We're all, like, cosmic children, man!

nonspecialist — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:49:58 -0800

In 2004, the Stardust mission passed through the tail of comet 81P/Wild (aka Wild 2); in 2006, that captured comet dust was returned to Earth. Now, researchers have found glycine, one of the amino acids in proteins, in that cometary material. The glycine found is definitely extraterrestrial in origin, since the isotope of carbon that it's built from isn't found in any great quantity on Earth. Previously:

The Comet Hunters

spock — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:10:23 -0800

The Story of a Comet Hunter (see also his web page which contains a link to the story of his discover of Comet Seki-Lines in 1962). Visual comet hunting has a long and intriguing history. Today visual hunters are adapting their ways to make visual discoveries in an age of automated searches. The amateur can still win. Now, ANYONE can discover a comet(?) Or perhaps 1000. A Guide for SOHO Comet Hunters. More SOHO and Sungrazing Comet Links. [Previously]

Mammoth shrapnel

stbalbach — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:42:21 -0800

New evidence (Nature) has been discovered in support (BBC) of the North American Comet Catastrophe of 10,900 BC (previously). "We think that there was probably an impact which exploded in the air that sent [meteorite] particles flying into the animals.. the fragments unlikely originated on Earth." The discovery was made by Allen West using a magnet at an Arizona motel during a sale of Mammoth tusks. "It was just a tiny magnet on a string, but very strong. It would swing over [mammoth tusks] and stick firmly to these little dots."

North American Comet Catastrophe 10,900 BC

stbalbach — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:54:52 -0800

On May 23, 2007 a multi-disciplinary team of scientists announced (YouTube, 70mins, 7-parts, part1-1 is a summary) the finding of physical evidence strongly suggesting that, around 12,900 years ago (10,900 BC), a massive Shoemaker-Levy type comet hit the atmosphere, air burst over the Great Lakes region of North America and probably engulfed much of the continent in a fireball and subsequent firestorm with catastrophic effects for life and climate. The extraterrestrial event coincides with the mass extinction or depopulation of many of North America's largest mammals (including camels, mammoths, the short-faced bear and numerous other species); coincides with the end of the Clovis culture; and coincides with the start of a global climatic shift known as the Younger Dryas, a sudden return of Ice Age conditions. The "Younger Dryas impact event", as it is banally being called, now competes with some well known and hotly debated theories, such as human hunters killed the mammals; or the Younger Dryas was caused by a slow down in the Gulf Stream (which has implications for current Global Warming predictions). On September 27, 2007 the team officially published their findings as "Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling" (PNAS open access).

CalSky map to find Comet Holmes/17P

spock — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:00:53 -0800

Here's an excellent map if you want to see Comet Holmes/17P tonight (the comet that, until a couple of nights ago you would have needed a pretty good-sized telescope to even see. Then (out of the blue, as it were) it unexpectedly brightened by over 1,000,000 times to become an easy object for your naked eye –even with the nearly full moon in the sky). I did not know about CalSky but (despite some less-than-attractive web design) is truly the best of the web for online astronomy info and sky maps! With the map above, finding the comet is dead simple. Just follow these directions. Click on the map link above and then zoom out a few clicks until you see the "W" of the constellation Cassiopeia in the upper right corner of the picture. Now print it out and take it outside. Rotate the paper 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so the "w" is now in the upper left. Look very high up in the north and you should see the "w". Now look lower and more to the northeast and you will see a small right triangle. The one that is not part of the constellation Perseus is Comet Holmes/17P (currently a Magnitude 3 object). In binoculars it will look like a fuzzy star. Congrats for finding it!

And now for something completely different

spock — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:56:31 -0800

And now for something completely different: A star with a tail like a comet. (Cool pic). Don't know how we missed it. It's one of the most well-known stars in the sky and the tail is 13 light-years long, or about 20,000 times the average distance of Pluto from the sun.

"The sun descending in the west, The evening star does shine;"

wander — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:12:27 -0800

Have you ever wondered what a solar eclipse would look like from space? The STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) has just sent back its view (awe-inspiring video included). It has also sent back some gorgeous pictures of our sun (and the McNaught Comet). For more media, check out the other galleries (including some 3D images). For more about the project, see NASA's STEREO homepage. Be sure to also stop by the Johns Hopkins University STEREO Page, where you can download a mission guide (pdf), view animations, watch a video of the launch, or even make your own papercraft STEREO model (pdf). You can also learn more in six minute segments with their series of short educational videos.

APOD

ztdavis — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 06:59:57 -0800

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is simply amazing.

Nostradamus - Comet McNaught - Mabus - Saddam

spock — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:49:43 -0800

Comets have long inspired fear and it continues today. Nostradamus "prophesied":

Mabus then will soon die, there will come Of people and beasts a horrible rout: Then suddenly one will see vengeance, Hundred, hand, thirst, hunger when the comet will run.

But who is Mabus (Nostradamus' third antichrist)? Will the idea further inspire Muslim fundamentalists?

Comet McNaught could be HISTORIC

spock — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:47:02 -0800

NOW SHOWING: Nekkid-eye Comet McNaught (via MonkeyFilter)

Space Nerds Rejoice!

ND¢ — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 13:26:26 -0800

Stardust@home. The Stardust spacecraft (discussed recently here) should land in Utah early Saturday, carrying in its hold a sprinkling of grains of interstellar dust. Researchers are seeking the public's help in pinpointing the submicroscopic bits of dust. Participants will sift through the hundreds of thousands of pictures of the roughly square-foot collector plate.

NASA gets piece of tail

mania — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 12:07:08 -0800

This weekend, NASA will order the Stardust spacecraft to jettison its 100-pound capsule that contains comet dust. The capsule will hurdle through earth’s atmosphere and make a soft landing in the Utah desert. Not directly connected to last summer’s Deep Impact, Stardust’s mission is to bring comet debris back to earth for study. Here’s hoping we don’t need the Wildfire lab.

Big, Big Bang

planetkyoto — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 21:28:00 -0800

THWACK! (NASA TV Live feed) This is just a heads up, only about 80 minutes until Deep Impact (NASA mission page) slams into comet Tempel 1. Recent discussion here.

Working on the Fourth of July

Fat Guy — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 08:08:08 -0800

What are you doing for July 4th? I just found out I'll be working. Our spacecraft Swift is going to be observing comet Tempel1 at the time of the Deep Impact encounter. (Previous discussed here on MeFi 2 years ago.) We'll probably have images and movies first, but the first images you'll see after the encounter will likely come from either JPL or Hubble. You can't have Penn State scooping NASA.

Oh well, at least we will have a barbecue at work to celebrate. Our acting Mission Director during this time is a great bloke from MSSL. It is oddly appropriate to be celebrating the Fourth with a person from the UK.

Stardust

homunculus — Thu, 08 Jan 2004 21:16:37 -0800

Close-up images of comet Wild 2 were taken by the Stardust spacecraft on Jan. 2, and NASA released 2 of them this week. The spacecraft flew within 149 miles of the comet, 242 million miles from Earth. Stardust has been overshadowed by the Mars Exploration Rover, but I find it just as impressive, if not even more so. Now I'm looking forward to the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, which will reach Saturn on July 1.

Deep impact

gottabefunky — Tue, 13 May 2003 14:09:58 -0800

Deep impact. NASA scientists want to know what the pristine inside of a comet looks like. What better way, then, than by blowing a 25-meter crater in one? Comet Tempel 1, to be specific. Even better, send them your name and they'll put it on a disc attached to the impactor spacecraft, which will be launched on December 30, 2004. It'll hit on the 4th of July, 2005.

Rosetta Stone II

Pretty_Generic — Mon, 13 Jan 2003 21:31:18 -0800

The Rosetta Project In Spaaaace. Agh, it's a great concept... I just wish they'd made the text something a little more secular. The aliens will probably take it all too literally.

gottabefunky — Fri, 30 Aug 2002 07:37:31 -0800

Giant asteroid hurtling toward your planet? Don't know what to do? Don't call Bruce Willis. Just build a giant airbag and nudge the sucker away.

nonharmful — Mon, 07 May 2001 14:46:03 -0800

Let us prepare for impact. A group of scientists is working on a standardized protocol for dealing with the possibility of a comet or massive asteroid striking the Earth, saying humans can do more than the dinosaurs ever could before a colossal impact precipitated their extinction 65 millions years ago.
"We have now overcome the giggle factor."
I don't know if we have........