Join @planetarypan as she welcomes SETI Institute Postdoctoral Fellow Ariel Graykowski to this week's SETI Live to discuss the results of citizen scientist observations of comets 12P/Pons-Brooks and C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).
Starting in 2025 the #VeraCRubin#observatory will increase the number of known objects circling the sun by roughly tenfold, spotting new #comets, exotic #asteroids from other stars, and perhaps even the elusive #PlanetNine.
Comets have long been auspicious, recognized by cultures around the globe as signs of things both great and terrible. The Chinese have kept meticulous records of comets for three thousand years, and comets have been linked to the Battle of Hastings, the birth of Christ, and sin itself. #MythologyMonday#Myth#comets
“Nothing piques people’s interest in Earth’s place in the universe quite like #comets. They’re unpredictable, and they often go undetected until they get close to the Sun. I still get excited when one comes into view,” a planetarium director writes.
There’s a flurry of excitement every time a comet comes into view from Earth.
Learn more about these celestial objects – nicknamed “dirty snowflakes” – and where they come from:
Did you guys also know that #comets aren't special and aren't traveling any faster than any other #asteroid or other object out there, and they're not hot or on fire?
They're actually ice #balls, and the #sun makes the ice evaporate and then the solar wind (particles from the sun) blows that "atmosphere" away from the sun, creating the tail.
The tail doesn't even have anything to do with the direction that the ice ball is moving! The tail blows away from the sun. That's it.
A comet is literally a solar windsock.
Why did they never teach us this in school? Why did they allow us to think that comets were special fireballs moving at the speed of light across the galaxy?
Anyway, tonight and tomorrow night is the #Orionid Meteor Shower, which apparently is made up of debris from #Halley's #Comet. That's what got me on this topic.
Gary and I managed to find the discoverer of this comet which we were able to confirm a few months ago. You can imagine how surprised and delighted he was, now 76 years old. #unconfirmed#comets
in the #arxiv this morning: Splitting of Long-Period Comet C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS), by Man-To Hui and co-authors. The comet has two components splitting at a relative speed of 3.00±0.18 m/s. Pre-split nucleus might have consisted of two lobes resembling the ones of 67P.
NASA's James Webb telescope detects water vapour around a comet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is notable given Comet Read's proximity to the Sun. It also finds a lack of carbon dioxide, which is surprising.
Starting today I will post a page of my "Good Night(sky) Stories" each #Moonday. It's a visual journey through our solar system and beyond, combining cute cartoons with scientific facts and trite humor. Basically the result of an artist and an astrophysicist distracting themselves during boring meetings.
German version: https://mastodon.art/@eyeling/109501818170699384 #sciart#scicomm#astronomy#astrodon