Comets

Comet 2013 A1: Rendezvous with Mars…

Pete Baker on March 27, 2013, 8:46 pm | Readers 26

Here’s something to think about whilst waiting to see if Comet ISON will fizzle, or sizzle. The latest Science at Nasa video looks at the trajectory, and consequences for Mars missions, of Comet 2013 A1 (Siding Spring). Discovered as recently as 3 January this year, this Oort cloud object will pass “extraordinarily close” to the planet Mars on 19 October 2014 – an actual collision, although unlikely, has not been ruled out yet [1:2000]. It’s estimated that an impact of the ~1-3 km-wide Comet 2013 A1, travelling at around …

“Will Comet ISON fizzle … or sizzle?”

Pete Baker on January 19, 2013, 2:45 pm | Readers 55

Science at Nasa has a great assessment of the potential for Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) to become the ‘Comet of the Century’. Worth watching. Just remember – “comets are like cats: they have tails, and do whatever they want to do.” But as the Science at Nasa assessment notes “Comet ISON is probably at least twice as big as Comet Lovejoy and will pass a bit farther from the sun’s surface” notes Knight. “This would seem to favor Comet ISON surviving and …

“It’ll be back in about 600 years…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2012, 3:55 pm | Readers 11

In this short video ScienceAtNasa takes an informative look at the surprisingly robust sun-grazing Comet Lovejoy. And here’s the stunning video from the crew of the International Space Station again. [Video courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center] Pete Baker

“One less dirty snowball”

Pete Baker on July 28, 2011, 3:52 pm | Readers 1

Science at Nasa explains in this short video. Pete Baker

Rendezvous with Tempel 1

Pete Baker on February 15, 2011, 3:00 pm | Readers 15

[Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell] Late last night Nasa’s Stardust NExT spacecraft swept past Comet Tempel 1 on the final leg of its 12-year mission. The BBC reports that the spacecraft was about 180 km (110 miles) from the 7.5 km wide comet nucleus during closest approach – the earlier linked Nasa report more accurately records that closest approach at 181 km (112 miles). There was, of course, a much more intimate rendezvous with Comet Tempel 1 by the Deep Impact probe in 2005… a probe which subsequently completed a successful …

Comet Hartley 2 Flyby – “Just spectacular”

Pete Baker on November 6, 2010, 3:28 pm | Readers 4

Here’s a wondrous short video of the recent flyby of Comet Hartley 2 by the Nasa/JPL EPOXI Mission using 40 images taken from Deep Impact’s Medium-Resolution Instrument during the encounter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD/Brown University. And the EPOXI Mission scientists present their preliminary findings at a press conference. Video via NASAtelevision. Pete Baker

Deep Impact to Flyby Hartley 2

Pete Baker on November 4, 2010, 2:56 pm | Readers 10

As I mentioned last month, Nasa’s Deep Impact probe was redirected towards comet 103P/Hartley at the start of 2008 as part of the EPOXI mission – see post from the time. The image top was taken by the EPOXI mission on Nov. 2, 2010 from a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles). [Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD] And, as the BBC report notes, Deep Impact should be flying within 700km of the comet just about now [1402 GMT]. Live coverage on Nasa TV. …

Deep Impact Spies Comet Target

Pete Baker on September 9, 2010, 3:17 pm | Readers 3

Nasa’s Deep Impact probe was redirected towards comet 103P/Hartley at the start of 2008 as part of the EPOXI mission – see post from the time. On Sunday 5th September the probe opened its eyes and took the first of more than 64,000 images its expected to take of Comet Hartley 2 [Image credit: NASA/JPL/UM]. On 4th November Deep Impact [EPOXI] will fly within 700km of the comet, which might at some point become visible to the naked eye. It will spend 21 …