Comets


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Chicxulub impact event left evidence of giant ripples under Louisiana

When the Chicxulub impact blasted into the Yucatan Peninsula, it generated massive tsunamis that left their signature thousands of miles away.
Artist Impression of Chicxulub Impact.
Over 800 miles from the impact site, massive ripples buried deep underground record the devastation wrought by an asteroid. The Chicxulub impact, the likely smoking gun for the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, sent tsunamis tearing across the Gulf of Mexico. These giant waves left ripples in the undersea sediments as they passed and a new study has found what might be the largest "megaripples" on the planet.

The darkest dayLet's step back a moment. It has been around 40 years since the Chicxulub impact, located on the northern shores of the Yucatan Peninsula, was identified as the potential cause of the famed Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction (a.k.a., the K-t boundary). Since then, signs of this massive collision have been found across the planet. These include a layer of iridium from the asteroid, droplets of molten rock that rained down after the impact, wave deposits as far away as North Dakota and the charred remains of forest burned by the heat of the blast.

Comet 2

Update on giant oort cloud comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein)

Comet C/2014 UN271 Bernardinelli-Bernstein oort cloud
The comet is now known as Comet C/2014 UN271, or Bernardinelli-Bernstein after its discoverers, University of Pennsylvania graduate student Pedro Bernardinelli and astronomer Gary Bernstein.
In 2021 June 19, the circular MPEC 2021-M53 of Minor Planet Center announced the discovery of an asteroidal object by astronomers P. Bernardinelli & G. Bernstein (University of Pennsylvania) that they found in CCD exposures obtained with the 4.0-m reflector at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in the course of the "Dark Energy Survey", and which they reported as a previously unknown member of the Oort Cloud. The reported astrometry was spanning from 2014 Oct. 20 to 2018 Nov. 8. The new object was designated 2014 UN271. It was hidden among data collected by the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile and was announced only now because, in the words of one of the discoverers, "finding TNOs with DES is a massive computational problem (my PhD was solving this problem). The search itself took 15~20 million CPU-hours, and the catalog production from our 80,000 exposures probably took more than that!"

According to the orbit calculated using data from 2014 to 2018, this object is likely to be a comet from the outer edge of the Oort Cloud. But 2014 UN271, despite its typically cometary orbit, appeared completely stellar in these archival images when it moved from 29 to 23 AU (for comparison, Pluto is 39 au from the Sun, on average). Below a simulation (made by T. Dunn) of the orbit of comet C/2014 UN271 showing it path in the Solar System from 1985 to 2049.


A few days after the discovery announcement, 2014 UN271 has been found to show cometary appearance in new CCD images obtained by observers at station codes L81 & K93.Basically this object, that was first seen as an asteroid of magnitude ~22 by DES in 2014 at a distance of 29 AU, approaching the Sun was growing his coma and tails. As of June 2021, it was 20 AU from the Sun shining at a magnitude ~20.After the discovery of the cometary coma, the new comet has been designated C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). This comet will reach perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, in January 2031 at about ~11 AU away from the Sun.

Comet 2

Comet strike 13,000-years-ago may have sparked civilisation shift

A cluster of comet fragments believed to have hit Earth nearly 13,000 years ago may have shaped the origins of human civilisation, research suggests.
Archaeological site in Arizona, US,
© Comet Research GroupArchaeological site in Arizona, US, with a distinctive black layer, indicating substantial environmental changes beginning about 10,800 BC, with impact debris at its base.
Possibly the most devastating cosmic impact since the extinction of the dinosaurs, it appears to coincide with major shifts in how human societies organised themselves, researchers say.

Their analysis backs up claims that an impact occurred prior to start of the Neolithic period in the so-called Fertile Crescent of southwest Asia.

During that time, humans in the region - which spans parts of modern-day countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon - switched from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to ones centred on agriculture and the creation of permanent settlements.

Catastrophic event

It is thought that the comet strike - known as the Younger Dryas impact - also wiped out many large animal species and ushered in a mini ice age that lasted more than 1,000 years.

Since it was proposed in 2007, the theory about the catastrophic comet strike has been the subject of heated debate and much academic research.

Now, researchers from the University of Edinburgh have reviewed evidence assessing the likelihood that an impact took place, and how the event may have unfolded.

Comet 2

The Fall of Phaethon - Long published field evidence supports Bronze Age Bavarian impact

Rubens-Fall_of_Phaeton.jpg
© Wikimedia CommonsRubens-Fall_of_Phaeton
The Chiemgau impact in Bavarian Germany stands out as particularly sympathetic crater martyr. The evidence for a euro-apocalypse is sincerely published and well established as a legitimate hypothesis based on decades of meticulous fieldwork, but entirely ignored because it happened relatively recently in geological terms. The coolest thing about the Chiemgau impact is how it supports a most ancient story concerning the god Phaethon, who crossed the sky in a day.
Phaethon appealed to his father, who swore to prove his paternity by giving him whatever he wanted. Phaethon asked to be allowed to drive the chariot of the sun through the heavens for a single day. Helios, bound by his oath, had to let him make the attempt. Phaethon set off but was entirely unable to control the horses of the sun chariot, which came too near to the earth and began to scorch it. To prevent further damage, Zeus hurled a thunderbolt at Phaethon, who fell to the earth at the mouth of the Eridanus, a river later identified as the Po.
Another cool thing for the Tusk is that I first learned the Phaethon myth may represent an actual cosmic event way back in 1995. My original guru — on all this stuff — is old buddy Bob Kobres. His neo-digital worldwide web page back in 95′ opened my eyes to the possibility that ancient myth isn't all just caveman campfire stories. Bob believed that long related tales of 'god's wrestling in the sky' were based on actual observations of physically realistic cosmic impacts.

Comet 2

New Comet C/2021 K2 (MASTER)

CBET 4975 & MPEC 2021-L89, issued on 2021, June 09, announce the discovery of a new comet (magnitude ~19.0) on CCD images taken on May 23.0 UT with the "Mobile Astronomical System of the Telescope-Robots" (MASTER) auto-detection system (double 0.40-m f/2.5 reflector) at the South African Astronomical Observatory. The object was reported by MASTER as a new NEO candidate and has been found to show cometary activity by CCD astrometrists elsewhere. The new comet has been designated C/2021 K2 (MASTER).

Stacking of 35 unfiltered exposures, 120 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2021, June 02.4 from X02 (Telescope Live, Chile) through a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a compact coma about 15" arcsecond in diameter elongated toward PA 180 (Observers E. Guido, M. Rocchetto, E. Bryssinck, M. Fulle, G. Milani, C. Nassef, G. Savini, A. Valvasori).

Our confirmation images (click on the images for a bigger version; made with TYCHO software by D. Parrott)

Comet C/2021 K2 (MASTER)
© Remanzacco Blogspot

Comet 2

New Comet C/2021 J1 (Maury-Attard)

CBET 4972 & MPEC 2021-L11, issued on 2021, June 02, announce the discovery of a new comet (magnitude ~19.0) on CCD images taken by A. Maury and G. Attard on May 09.3 UT with the 0.28-m f/2.2 Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt astrograph at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile in the course of the MAP (W94) survey. The new comet has been designated C/2021 J1 (Maury-Attard). This is the first amateur comet discovery of 2021. It is also the first comet ever discovered using the synthetic tracking technique (using TYCHO software).

Stacking of 27 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2021, May 16.3 from X02 (Telescope Live, Chile) through a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a compact coma about 7" arcsecond in diameter (Observers E. Guido, M. Rocchetto, E. Bryssinck, M. Fulle, G. Milani, C. Nassef, G. Savini, A. Valvasori).

Our confirmation images (click on the images for a bigger version; made with TYCHO software by D. Parrott)

comet C/2021 J1 (Maury-Attard)
© Remanzacco Blogspot

Comet 2

New Comet C/2021 K1 (ATLAS)

CBET 4968 & MPEC 2021-K89, issued on 2021, May 27, announce the discovery of a new comet (magnitude ~17.0) on CCD images taken on May 14.5 UT with the 0.5-m reflector + CCD in the course of the ATLAS-HKO (T05) survey. The object was originally found by Peter Veres of Minor Planet Center (MPC) as unusually bright among the MPC's isolated tracklet file (ITF) and linked to the detections from May 22 (F51) and May 14 (T08). A review of the ATLAS images revealed the cometary nature of this object.

As with the ATLAS observations, this object was reported without comments by Pan-STARRS1 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala on May 22.6 UT (mag 17.6-18.0), submitted as two separate objects on the same night. This object has been found to show cometary appearance also by CCD astrometrists elsewhere after it was posted on the MPC's PCCP webpage. The new comet has been designated C/2021 K1 (ATLAS).

Stacking of 44 unfiltered exposures, 60 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2021, May 27.3 from X02 (Telescope Live, Chile) through a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a compact coma about 20" arcsecond in diameter and a tail 30" long in PA 245 (Observers E. Guido, M. Rocchetto, E. Bryssinck, M. Fulle, G. Milani, C. Nassef, G. Savini, A. Valvasori).

Our confirmation images (click on the images for a bigger version; made with TYCHO software by D. Parrott)
Comet C/2021 K1
© Remanzacco Blogspot

Comet

Heavy metal vapours unexpectedly found in comets throughout our Solar System — and beyond

comet heavy metal plasma
A new study by a Belgian team using data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) has shown that iron and nickel exist in the atmospheres of comets throughout our Solar System, even those far from the Sun. A separate study by a Polish team, who also used ESO data, reported that nickel vapour is also present in the icy interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. This is the first time heavy metals, usually associated with hot environments, have been found in the cold atmospheres of distant comets.

"It was a big surprise to detect iron and nickel atoms in the atmosphere of all the comets we have observed in the last two decades, about 20 of them, and even in ones far from the Sun in the cold space environment," says Jean Manfroid from the University of Liège, Belgium, who lead the new study on Solar System comets published today in Nature.

Comment: The answer for why this is occurring may lie in the true nature of comets, asteroids, and space; Pierre Lescaudron & Laura Knight-Jadczyk in their book Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection write:
[...] The fundamental difference between asteroids and comets is not their chemical composition, i.e. dirty, fluffy icy comets vs. rocky asteroids. Rather, as has long been put forward by plasma theorists, what differentiates 'comets' from 'asteroids' is their electric activity.

When the electric potential difference between an asteroid and the surrounding plasma is not too high, the asteroid exhibits a dark discharge mode1 or no discharge at all. But when the potential difference is high enough, the asteroid switches to a glowing discharge mode.2 At this point the asteroid is a comet. From this perspective, a comet is simply a glowing asteroid and an asteroid is a non-glowing comet. Thus the very same body can, successively, be a comet, then an asteroid, then a comet, etc., depending on variation in the ambient electric field it is subjected to.3 [...]

1 See Chapter 5: 'Discharge modes'.

2 An intense circulation of ions and electrons occurs between the asteroid and the surrounding space. The energy provided by this intense transfer 'excites' electrons which generate photons, hence the glow of the asteroid. See: Meichsner, J. Nonthermal Plasma Chemistry and Physics, p.117

3 Thornhill, W. & Talbott, D., The Electric Universe, p. 95-99
See also: And check out SOTT radio's:


Arrow Up

Comets cause meteor showers on Earth

Long Period Comet
© P. Jenniskens / SETI InstituteThe meteoroid stream of long-period comet Thatcher from CAMS data. Outer blue ellipse is the orbit of Neptune.
Comets that circle the Sun in very elongated orbits spread their debris so thin along their orbit or eject it out of the solar system altogether that their meteor showers are hard to detect. From a new meteor shower survey published in the journal Icarus, researchers now report that they can detect showers from the debris in the path of comets that pass close to Earth orbit and are known to return as infrequent as once every 4,000 years.

"This creates a situational awareness for potentially hazardous comets that were last near-Earth orbit as far back as 2,000 BC," said meteor astronomer and lead author Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute.

Jenniskens is the lead of the Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) project, which observes and triangulates the visible meteors in the night sky using low- light video security cameras to measure their trajectory and orbit. There are CAMS networks now in nine countries, led by co-authors on the paper.

In recent years, new networks in Australia, Chile and Namibia significantly increased the number of triangulated meteors. The addition of these networks resulted in a better and more complete picture of the meteor showers in the night sky.

"Until recently, we only knew five long-period comets to be parent bodies to one of our meteor showers," said Jenniskens, "but now we identified nine more, and perhaps as many as 15."

Attention

Overview of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis debate

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis
© Earth-Science journal, Earth-Science ReviewsLocation map showing 53 YD boundary (black mat) sites (reproduced from Pino et al. (2019) under the terms of the CCA 4.0 International License). Orange dots represent 28 sites with peaks in both platinum and other impact proxies such as high-temperature iron-rich microspherules. Red dots represent 24 sites with impact proxies but lacking platinum measurements. The yellow dot indicates the Pilauco site, Chile, described in detail in Pino et al. (2019). A new site in South Africa, Wonderkrater, has been identified since this map was first published (Thackeray et al., 2019).
Indefatigable genius and digital friend of the Tusk, Dr. Martin Sweatman, authored a surprise blockbuster this week. Below is a peer-reviewed and fully accepted pre-online synthesis overview of the Younger Dryas Impact controversy since the very first paper in 2007. 'The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: review of the impact evidence' concludes — in perhaps the world's most appropriate and respected scientific journal — that based on the published evidence, our modern world is indeed birthed of a horrendous global catastrophe ~12,881 years ago. It is a lengthy, detailed, fair and lucid tour-de-force in support of The Event based on Martin's reading of the entire debate.

Martin is an example to the Tusk of how many, many people there are on earth. You have to have 8+ billion humans in order to have enough brain matter and determination on the end of the bell curve to find a just one single, well-qualified, unbiased, poly-curious scientist, so determined to find the truth that they will to read every last word — and then write every last word — well.