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| ©University Calgary |
| Close-up of Tagish Lake fragile carbon porousity. |
Comets
A scientific consortium of 4 universities and NASA is now trying to uncover the debris and sample the early solar system's unique chemistry.
Magnified 25,000 times under Drexel University's scanning electron microscope, a couple of flecks of dirt offer up a landscape full of crags, valleys, ridges - and, to Dee Breger's eyes, a window back in time.
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| ©Dee Breger |
| Colorized scanning electron micrograph shows a tiny spherule that is believed to have formed from a vaporized or melted fragment when a piece of a comet slammed into the Indian Ocean an estimated 4,800 years ago. Marine geophysicist Dallas Abbott hypothesizes that such an impact was the source of deluge legends like Noah's ark and Gilgamesh. |
Saturn's bizarre moon Enceladus is a little more mysterious after the recent Cassini flyby found it to be remarkably like a comet in its internal chemistry.
"A completely unexpected surprise is that the chemistry of Enceladus, what's coming out from inside, resembles that of a comet," says Hunter Waite of the Southwest Research Institute, principal investigator for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer. "To have primordial material coming out from inside a Saturn moon raises many questions on the formation of the Saturn system."
"A completely unexpected surprise is that the chemistry of Enceladus, what's coming out from inside, resembles that of a comet," says Hunter Waite of the Southwest Research Institute, principal investigator for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer. "To have primordial material coming out from inside a Saturn moon raises many questions on the formation of the Saturn system."
Saturn's curious moon Enceladus appears to have the same chemical makeup as a comet, according to the latest results from the Cassini probe. That's a big surprise, as Enceladus should have formed in very different conditions from those of comets.
On 12 March, Cassini flew through the huge plume of steam and other gases that spews from fissures at the moon's south pole. A glitch prevented the spacecraft's dust analyser from studying the makeup of the plume, but another instrument, called the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS), did sample its chemistry.
As well as water vapour, the INMS detected carbon dioxide, methane and a range of more complex organic chemicals such as propane.
On 12 March, Cassini flew through the huge plume of steam and other gases that spews from fissures at the moon's south pole. A glitch prevented the spacecraft's dust analyser from studying the makeup of the plume, but another instrument, called the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS), did sample its chemistry.
As well as water vapour, the INMS detected carbon dioxide, methane and a range of more complex organic chemicals such as propane.
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| ©NASA/JPL/GSFC/SwRI/SSI |
| Heat radiates from the entire length of 150-kilometre-long fractures on the south pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus |
Every week, the Opinion section presents an essay from The Times's archive by a columnist or contributor that we hope sheds light on current news or provides a window on the past.
This week's offering comes from Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction novelist, who died on Wednesday. In 1994, he urged Op-Ed readers to look to the skies--or risk going the way of the dinosaurs.
This week's offering comes from Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction novelist, who died on Wednesday. In 1994, he urged Op-Ed readers to look to the skies--or risk going the way of the dinosaurs.
Although it has been more than a decade since Comet Hale-Bopp blazed in the night sky, it's still sputtering as it continues to head into cold, trans-Neptunian space.
In a paper submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a trio of Hungarian and Australian astronomers describe capturing the most distant cometary activity ever seen.
In a paper submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a trio of Hungarian and Australian astronomers describe capturing the most distant cometary activity ever seen.
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| ©Dennis di Cicco |
| Comet Hale-Bopp amid its glory on March 17, 1997. The comet still shines in the outer solar system, but at a mere 20th magnitude. |
I love celestial coincidences. There are just so many of them.
Why do some of the closest bright stars to the solar system lie in front of the bright stars of the winter Milky Way? This foreground and background have nothing to do with each other, but they combine to make our winter evening sky especially starry-bright.
Why, from Earth's viewpoint, do planets shine just about as bright as the brightest stars?
Why are the apparent sizes of the Moon and Sun so nearly alike? They're just right to give us the most spectacular-looking (if rather rare) total solar eclipses.
Why do some of the closest bright stars to the solar system lie in front of the bright stars of the winter Milky Way? This foreground and background have nothing to do with each other, but they combine to make our winter evening sky especially starry-bright.
Why, from Earth's viewpoint, do planets shine just about as bright as the brightest stars?
Why are the apparent sizes of the Moon and Sun so nearly alike? They're just right to give us the most spectacular-looking (if rather rare) total solar eclipses.
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| ©S&T: Dennis di Cicco & Sean Walker |
| On the evening of March 5th, big dim Comet Holmes was passing big dim NGC 1499, the California Nebula in Perseus. For this image Dennis di Cicco took 30-minute exposures through blue and green filters and a 50-minute exposure through a red filter, using a 5-inch Tele Vue NP127is refractor and an Apogee U16M CCD camera. Click image for larger view. (Look carefully at the large view and you'll see the faint nucleus of the comet as a tiny red-green-blue streak; it moved between the three exposures.) The field is roughly 3° tall, with north up. |
A comet or asteroid smashed into modern-day Germany some 2,200 years ago, unleashing energy equivalent to thousands of atomic bombs, scientists reported on Friday.
© Chiemgau Impact Research Team
The largest crater in the Chiemgau field in Bavaria is water-filled Tuttensee, located near the village of Marwang. At the water surface, Tüttensee measures 1,200 feet across. but the original crater may have been twice as large. Photo credit: Chiemgau Impact Research Team.
The largest crater in the Chiemgau field in Bavaria is water-filled Tuttensee, located near the village of Marwang. At the water surface, Tüttensee measures 1,200 feet across. but the original crater may have been twice as large. Photo credit: Chiemgau Impact Research Team.
It appears that predictions made by Wal Thornhill and the Electric Comet model are being quickly confirmed, whether mainstream astronomers like it or not. In the end, it seems nature will be the arbiter of which model is the most accurate and predictive.
At the end of the year [1664] we saw shortly after each other two tail-stars or comets arising in the sky. The first one, in the southeast, was to be seen for almost two months. After that another one appeared in the southeast. The appearance of these celestial bodies, caused a big panic in the country. The war-fleet was standing by, the guards of the ports were reinforced, all fortresses were provided with extra provisions and extra munitions, while cavalry and infantry were exercising daily. Also was it not allowed to light any lamps, especially not in the cities along the coast. This fear was caused by the fact that when the Tartarians invaded the country, there were also similar signs in the firmament, as well as at the beginning of the war with the Japanese.
