Comets


Fireball

The Raging Comet Storm of Star System Eta Corvi

In 2011, the infrared detectors of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected indications that one or more comets was torn to shreds after colliding with a rocky body in an alien solar system in a manner similar to what happened to our own solar system several billion years ago during a period known as the "Late Heavy Bombardment," which may have brought water and other life-forming ingredients to Earth.
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© NASA/JPL-Caltech and revolutionizingawareness.com
Spitzer spotted a band of dust around a nearby bright star in the northern sky called Eta Corvi that strongly matches the contents of an obliterated giant comet. This dust is located close enough to Eta Corvi that Earth-like worlds could exist, suggesting a collision took place between a planet and one or more comets. The Eta Corvi system is approximately one billion years old, which researchers think is about the right age for such a hailstorm. "We believe we have direct evidence for an ongoing Late Heavy Bombardment in the nearby star system Eta Corvi, occurring about the same time as in our solar system," said Carey Lisse, senior research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Astronomers used Spitzer's infrared detectors to analyze the light coming from the dust around Eta Corvi. Certain chemical fingerprints were observed, including water ice, organics and rock, which indicate a giant comet source.

Comet

Comet Hergenrother breaks apart before astronomers' eyes

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© NASA/JPL-Caltech/GeminiThis image of Comet Hergenrother, taken by the Gemini telescope on Nov. 2, 2012, shows several distinct pieces near the comet's core.
A comet is falling apart on its trek through the inner solar system, and astronomers have a ringside seat for all the dramatic action.

Amateur and professional astronomers have been following Comet Hergenrother for several weeks, noting some impressive outbursts of comet dust as it passed through our neck of the cosmic woods. Now it appears that the icy wanderer's days may be numbered.

"Comet Hergenrother is splitting apart," Rachel Stevenson, a post-doctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "Using the Gemini North Telescope on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, we have resolved that the nucleus of the comet has separated into at least four distinct pieces, resulting in a large increase in dust material in its coma."

Galaxy

Comet collisions every 6 seconds unlock 17-year-old stellar mystery

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Comets have been colliding with one another every six seconds for millions of years near a star in the constellation Cetus called 49 CETI, which is visible to the naked eye.

Over the past three decades, astronomers have discovered hundreds of dusty disks around stars, but only two - 49 CETI is one - have been found that also have large amounts of gas orbiting them.

Young stars, about a million years old, have a disk of both dust and gas orbiting them, but the gas tends to dissipate within a few million years and almost always within about 10 million years.

Yet 49 CETI, which is thought to be considerably older, is still being orbited by a tremendous quantity of gas in the form of carbon monoxide molecules, long after that gas should have dissipated.

Comet

New Comet: C/2012 V2 (LINEAR)

Cbet nr. 3290, issued on 2012, November 08, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 19.0) by the LINEAR survey on images obtained with the 1.0-m f/2.15 reflector + CCD on November 05.08. The new comet has been designated C/2012 V2 (LINEAR).

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of eleven unfiltered exposures, 120-sec each, obtained at the Remanzacco Observatory (Udine) on 2012, Nov. 7.8, through a 0.45-m, f/4.4 reflector + CCD, shows that this object is a comet: compact coma about 10" in diameter.

Our confirmation image:
C/2012 V2 (LINEAR)
© Remanzacco Observatory
M.P.E.C. 2012-V58 (including prediscovery observations from the MASTER-II Observatory, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, on Oct. 30) assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2012 V2: T 2013 Aug. 18.22; e= 1.0; Peri. = 217.77; q = 1.44 AU; Incl.= 67.43.

Comet 2

New Comet: C/2012 V1 (PANSTARRS)

C/2012 V1 (PANSTARRS) was discovered by the PANSTARRS survey using a 1.8-m f/4.4 reflector from Haleakala, HI.

Larry Denneau, Richard Wainscoat and Henry Hsieh noted a diffuse, non-stellar appearance on four 45 seconds w-band images, and subsequently it was posted on the NEO Confirmation Page under the temporary designation P104XVd, with also a 100% NEO score.
At first I was able to confirm its cometary appearance with the 2.0-m Faulkes Telescope North, from the same site, under very good seeing conditions (stars FWHM 0.9″-1.0″). In the image below (stack of 9×45 seconds with Bessel R filter) its nature is clear, with a diffuse 4″ coma, and a FWHM 70% larger than stars nearby.

The weather was good also at Schiaparelli Observatory on the same day, so I was able to image it with a 0.38-m f/6.8 reflector. Visually (i.e. on the screen) its aspect was stellar, but the "FWHM method" clearly revealed its nature: profile 30% larger than stars nearby, and a coma 8″ wide.

Also ARI Observatory (H21) detected it on Nov. 05.26, and in the image below, taken with the very good 0.81-m f/4 astrograph stacking 30×60 seconds images, the FWHM method revealed a profile 30-35% larger than stars, and a coma 11″x7″.

This is again a demonstration of how good is the FWHM method (used largely in our T3 project) in discerning comets among asteroids.
Results were published in CBET 3289 (subscription required) and astrometry, together with preliminary parabolic orbital elements, in MPEC 2012-V40.

Comet

Update: Splitting event in Comet 168P/Hergenrother

Following our team's detection of a fragmentation event with comet 168P/Hergenrother on October 26, 2012, we requested via the Faulkes Telescope Education project that further observations be taken. Today, two UK Schools using the Faulkes Telescope kindly assisted in obtaining additional observations for us. The two schools (Queens College and the Dollar Academy) performed follow-up observations of this comet on 2012, Nov. 2.4, remotely through the 2m, f/10 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD of Faulkes Telescope North (Haleakala).

Stacking of 26 R-filtered exposures, 35-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2012, Nov. 2.4, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, under good seeing conditions, confirms the presence of a secondary nucleus, or fragment, now placed about 3.3" in PA 165 with respect to the main central condensation of comet 168P. This fragment is now fainter, compared to our previous Oct. 26.4 detection, having R magnitude about 18.7; its diameter is still about 2", but now it appears more diffuse, without a clear central condensation (this hampers a precise determination of its photocenter). This fragment appears to have developed its own tail, nearly 4" long in PA 113 (about parallel to the main tail originating from the central condensation of 168P).

Below you can see our rendition of today imaging session. Through some image processing, the tail of the fragment became easily visible.
Comet 168P
© Remanzacco Observatory

Comet

Symbolic? UK chain store retailer 'Comet' sees website crash and suppliers commandeer stock

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Retailer Comet was plunged into chaos on Thursday as its looming administration led to suppliers commandeering stock, its website crashing and shoppers being urged to spend vouchers soon to become worthless.

The company said a notice of intent to file for administration had been handed in at the high court with the formal appointment of administrators expected early next week. The crunch puts 6,500 jobs at risk and raises the spectre of one of the darkest days for the high street since the collapse of Woolworths in 2008. In an email to staff, Comet chief executive Bob Darke said the board was "urgently working with its advisers to seek a solution to secure a viable future".

The 80-year-old company started as Comet Battery Stores, which charged batteries for wireless sets, and pioneered out-of-town retailing, opening its first superstore in Hull in 1968. In the first of a series of ownership changes, Comet was bought by B&Q owner Kingfisher in 1984 for £129m and, by the mid-1990s, had become a national chain. Amstrad founder Lord Sugar tweeted: "Sad to see the demise of Comet. They were my first serious trade customer when I started my first electronics factory in the early 70s."

Fireball 2

Eyewitnesses describe 'comet-like' white fireball possibly impacting Southern Ontario, 25 October 2012

Meteor Sighting Reports:

25 OCT 2012 Ryan Keswick - Ontario, Canada 2140 Eastern
Duration: 2-4 seconds. Facing North, object was seen NW moving NE. Bright yellow, brighter than Venus. Yes, some parts fragmenting behind it. Object was very visible in the sky, even with lights from the town.
25OCT2012 davies - Barrie, Ontario, Canada 21:50:00
Duration: 3 seconds. Facing north. It looked like it fell down to the ground. White colour, no sound, very bright. It looked like it had a long tail of white sparks. It looked very close, like it would have fallen within 20 kms north of Barrie.

Comet 2

New Comet: P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra)

Discovery Date: October 6, 2012

Magnitude: 19.7 mag

Discoverer: Michael Schwartz (Nogales, AZ, U.S.A.), P. R. Holvorcem (Tenagra II Observatory)

P/2012 TK8
© Aerith NetMagnitude Graph.
The orbital elements are published on M.P.E.C. 2012-U41.

Comet

Splitting event in comet 168P/Hergenrother

Over the past few weeks, comet 168P/Hergenrother has been under intense scrutiny due to its strange behaviour, namely a 6 magnitude surge in its brightness in a matter of several nights. Simultaneously the central condensation became markedly brighter and sharper, whilst the coma was also seen to grow in size. This has triggered the attention of amateur and professional astronomers alike.

Most of the time these brightening events (comets are among the most unpredictable astronomical objects from themselves) originate from some activity within, or associated with, the nucleus of the comet. There were strong assumptions in the astronomical community on the possible emergence of some visible fragments in the coma, the potential consequences of a break-up of in the comet's nucleus.

There have even been a few claims relating to a sighting within the comet hunting community, however these turned out to be most likely false alarms, due to the unfavourable combination of seeing/instrumental resolution within the amateur community. Our team have been monitoring the evolution of this comet with a variety of instruments including the research grade Faulkes Telescopes, with sub arcsecond imaging capability.

Today...we found the fragment...