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Post by lovejoy on Dec 16, 2011 20:30:12 GMT -8
Comet shows you can get really close to sun and survive, amazing astronomers The Canadian Press – 4 hours ago Lovejoy didn't exactly come out of its hellish adventure unscathed. Only 10 per cent of the comet — which was probably millions of tons — survived the encounter, said W. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which tracked Lovejoy's death-defying plunge. And the comet lost something pretty important: its tail. "It looks like the tail broke off and is stuck" in the sun's magnetic field, Pesnell said. ca.news.yahoo.com/comet-shows-really-close-sun-survive-amazing-astronomers-153906164.htmlCOMET LOVEJOY SURVIVES: Incredibly, sungrazing Comet Lovejoy has survived its close encounter with the sun. Lovejoy flew only 140,000 km over the stellar surface during the early hours of Dec. 16th. Experts expected the icy sundiver to be destroyed. spaceweather.com/
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Post by clone on Dec 21, 2011 14:59:26 GMT -8
Widespread reports of Comet Lovejoy's tail are being received from around the southern hemisphere. spaceweather.com/
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Post by lovejoy on Dec 25, 2011 13:39:19 GMT -8
COMET LOVEJOY FROM ORBIT: Veteran astronaut Dan Burbank has seen many amazing things. Once, he even flew through the aurora borealis. So when Burbank says "[Comet Lovejoy] is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space," it really means something. Currently serving onboard the International Space Station, Burbank photographed the sungrazing comet on Dec. 21st, an experience he describes in this NASA video: spaceweather.com/
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Post by clone on Feb 1, 2012 12:06:28 GMT -8
On Friday morning, February 3rd, Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) will pass approximately 0.5 degrees from globular cluster M92 in Hercules. At the moment, Comet Garradd has an astronomical magnitude of +6.5, invisible to the naked eye but an easy target for backyard telescopes. Forecasters expect it to brighten by a factor of ~2 in the weeks ahead as the comet approaches Earth for a 1.3 AU close encounter in early March. spaceweather.com/
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Post by swan diver on Mar 14, 2012 21:50:32 GMT -8
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Post by C2012 S1 on Sept 26, 2012 9:52:29 GMT -8
Big sun-diving Comet ISON might be spectacular in 2013 Sep 25, 2012 Astronomers have discovered a new comet. It is currently moving in front of the stars of the constellation Cancer the Crab. It’s out beyond Jupiter’s orbit still, now, but it’s heading for a close encounter with the sun in 2013. Called C/2012 S1 (ISON) by astronomers, its orbital characteristics indicate it might become a very bright object in Earth’s sky, beginning in November 2013. If so, all of us around the globe should be able to see it late next year. earthsky.org/space/big-sun-diving-comet-ison-might-be-spectacular-in-2013
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Post by clone on Oct 10, 2012 20:07:09 GMT -8
ASTEROID FLYBY: Newly-discovered asteroid 2012 TC4 will fly past Earth on Oct. 12th only 96,000 km (0.25 LD) away. There is no danger of a collision, but the 16 meter-wide space rock will be close enough to photograph through backyard telescopes as it brightens to approximately 14th magnitude. NASA hopes to ping this this object with radar, refining its orbit and possibly measuring its shape. Stay tuned for updates. www.spaceweather.com/
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Post by 4179 Toutatis on Dec 10, 2012 7:32:28 GMT -8
BIG ASTEROID FLYBY: Large near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis is flying past Earth this week. At closest approach on Dec. 12th, it will be 7 million km away, or 18 times farther than the Moon. spaceweather.com/
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Post by asteroid 2012 XE54 on Dec 17, 2012 23:18:34 GMT -8
Newfound Asteroid Buzzes Earth Inside Moon's Orbit The near-Earth asteroid 2012 XE54, which was discovered Sunday (Dec. 9), came within 140,000 miles (230,000 kilometers) of our planet at about 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT) Tuesday (Dec. 11), researchers said. www.space.com/18854-newfound-asteroid-close-flyby-earth.html
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Post by C2012 S1 on Jan 23, 2013 13:52:05 GMT -8
Big sun-diving Comet ISON might be spectacular in 2013 January 20, 2013 posting ... !!!!!!! ... THIS JUST IN ... IT IS TOO EARLY TO CONFIRM BUT SOME INITIAL DATA SUGGESTS THAT COMET C/2012/S1 HAS AT LEAST ONE COMPANION AND POSSIBLY UP TO SEVEN ... www.jmccanneyscience.com/
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Post by Lemmon on Jan 30, 2013 9:41:57 GMT -8
GREEN COMET LEMMON: 2013 could be the Year of the Comet. Comet Pan-STARRS is set to become a naked eye object in march, followed by possibly-Great Comet ISON in November. Now we must add to that list green Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6). "Comet Lemmon is putting on a great show for us down in the southern hemisphere," reports John Drummond, who sends this picture from Gisborne, New Zealand: Lemmon's green color comes from the gases that make up its coma. Jets spewing from the comet's nucleus contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C 2). Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space. Discovered on March 23rd 2012 by the Mount Lemmon survey in Arizona, Comet Lemmon is on an elliptical orbit with a period of almost 11,000 years. This is its first visit to the inner solar system in a very long time. www.spaceweather.com/
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Post by Siding Spring on Mar 4, 2013 18:50:00 GMT -8
Is a comet on a collision course with Mars? February 27, 2013 There is an outside chance that a newly discovered comet might be on a collision course with Mars. Astronomers are still determining the trajectory of the comet, named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), but at the very least, it is going to come fairly close to the Red Planet in October of 2014. "Even if it doesn't impact it will look pretty good from Earth, and spectacular from Mars," wrote Australian amateur astronomer Ian Musgrave, "probably a magnitude -4 comet as seen from Mars's surface." Read more at: phys.org/news/2013-02-comet-collision-mars.html#jCp
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Post by panstarrs on Mar 10, 2013 20:05:22 GMT -8
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Post by clone on Mar 20, 2013 16:14:34 GMT -8
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Post by clone on May 16, 2013 17:39:37 GMT -8
DISCONNECTION EVENT IN THE TAIL OF COMET LEMMON Disconnection events can be caused by CME impacts. A famous example is that of Comet Encke in 2007. Comet Lemmon, however, is not on the same side of the sun as active sunspot AR1748. It's hard to see how the recent X-flares can be responsible. Nevertheless, solar activity is high, so now is a good time to monitor comet tails. They are very sensitive to stormy space weather. Comet Lemmon is a pre-dawn object for observers in the northern hemisphere. It is currently gliding alongside the Great Square of Pegasus in the eastern sky before sunrise. The 7th-magnitude comet is too faint to see with the naked eye, but it is visible in medium-to-large backyard telescopes. www.spaceweather.com/The Sun Rips off a Comet's Tail October 1, 2007: Comet Encke science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/01oct_encke/
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