https://www.sott.net/topic/3-Comets Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2026 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:34:46 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/505751-The-deepening-mystery-of-the-March-fireballs If you love a good mystery, look no further than the night sky in March 2026. There were no major meteor showers scheduled for March, yet suddenly fireballs started appearing everywhere. "During the month of March, reports of very bright fireballs to the American Meteor Society (AMS) suddenly doubled," says Mike Hankey, who manages the AMS's fireball reporting system. "Many of them were visible in broad daylight and created loud sonic booms." A daytime fireball over Western Europe on March 8th drew more than 3,200 witness reports. Nine days later, a 7-ton asteroid exploded over Ohio with the force of 250 tons of TNT. On March 21st, a fireball broke apart above Houston, sending a fragment through the roof of a house. And those were just the headliners. Hankey has been running the fireball reporting system for nearly 15 years (indeed, he wrote much of the software himself), so he knew something unusual was happening. When the reports kept piling up, he dove into the data -- and what... https://www.sott.net/article/505751-The-deepening-mystery-of-the-March-fireballs Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:32:59 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505733-Rubin-observatory-announces-11000-new-asteroids The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will discover up to half a million solar system objects every year. It's already starting to deliver on that promise. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory promised to discover up to half a million new solar system objects each year of operation. It isn't fully operational yet, and it's already delivering on that promise. Last week, the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center confirmed the discovery of more than 11,000 new asteroids captured by Rubin during a 1½-month observation period. That period wasn't even part of its planned Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), just a test run to check systems and optimize observations. Still, it was enough for Rubin's powerful 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope to make thousands of discoveries. While most of them are in the main asteroid belt, the list includes 380 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) that orbit beyond Neptune, and 33 previously unknown near-Earth objects. This latest submission to the Minor... https://www.sott.net/article/505733-Rubin-observatory-announces-11000-new-asteroids Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:48:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505593-Right-as-Artemis-II-astronauts-passed-behind-Moon-multiple-meteoroids-hit-it Artemis II were giddy (their words!) on the evening of April 6th when they witnessed explosions on the lunar surface. Meteoroids were hitting the Moon. "We saw at least five," reported mission commander Reid Wiseman. The meteors appeared in middle of a solar eclipse. About an hour after the crew made their closest approach to the farside of the Moon, the sun disappeared behind the lunar disk, giving the astronauts a chance to view the first solar eclipse ever seen by humans from behind the Moon. https://www.sott.net/article/505593-Right-as-Artemis-II-astronauts-passed-behind-Moon-multiple-meteoroids-hit-it Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:46:52 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505539-Rare-sungrazer-comet-MAPS-will-shine-superbright-on-Saturday-if-it-survives-a-dangerous-encounter-with-our-star Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) could shine brightly in the evenings after April 4, but only if it survives a very close encounter with the sun. A rare "sungrazer" comet is about to pass very close to our star and could become visible in daylight — or it could completely disintegrate before our eyes. Either way, there could be something special to see in the night sky, with a large tail potentially visible late this week. Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was discovered Jan. 13 by French astronomers at the AMACS1 Observatory in Chile. Although the comet was initially thought to have a nucleus measuring around 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide, astronomers later reduced the estimate to under 0.25 miles (0.4 km) based on James Webb Space Telescope observations taken in February. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) belongs to a special family of comets called Kreutz "sungrazers," so called because they get very close to the sun, lighting up brightly but often breaking into smaller pieces. There are around 3,500 members of... https://www.sott.net/article/505539-Rare-sungrazer-comet-MAPS-will-shine-superbright-on-Saturday-if-it-survives-a-dangerous-encounter-with-our-star Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:02:07 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505530-Early-data-from-Vera-C-Rubin-Observatory-reveals-over-11000-new-asteroids Using preliminary data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids. The data were confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC), making this the largest single batch of asteroid discoveries submitted in the past year. The discoveries were made using data from Rubin's early optimization surveys and offer a powerful preview of the observatory's transformative impact on solar system science. The submission to MPC comprises approximately one million observations, taken over the span of a month and a half, of over 11,000 new asteroids and more than 80,000 already-known asteroids, including some that had previously been observed but were later "lost" because their orbits were too uncertain to predict their future locations. You can interact with all of Rubin's asteroid discoveries in the Rubin Orbitviewer, which uses real data to provide an intuitive way to explore the structure of our cosmic backyard in three... https://www.sott.net/article/505530-Early-data-from-Vera-C-Rubin-Observatory-reveals-over-11000-new-asteroids Fri, 03 Apr 2026 19:25:18 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505395-Earth-is-facing-an-unexplained-surge-of-massive-booming-daytime-fireballs-in-early-2026 On a Saturday afternoon this past March, a piece of the solar system plummeted toward a home in north Houston. The one-ton space rock broke apart nearly 30 miles above the city, unleashing a violent sonic boom equivalent to 26 tons of TNT. A dark, jagged fragment smashed through a residential roof and even ricocheted around a bedroom like a cosmic pinball. This would have been stunning in itself, except there were more such meteor strikes. During the first three months of 2026, our planet waded through an unusually dense shooting gallery. The American Meteor Society (AMS) has tracked a staggering wave of large, bright meteors — known as fireballs — lighting up skies from California to Germany. Earth sweeps up tons of space dust every day. Usually, this material is the size of a grain of sand and burns up harmlessly in the upper atmosphere. But right now, we are colliding with much bigger rocks. And scientists are scrambling to figure out why. Mike Hankey, a researcher who manages... https://www.sott.net/article/505395-Earth-is-facing-an-unexplained-surge-of-massive-booming-daytime-fireballs-in-early-2026 Sat, 28 Mar 2026 17:20:08 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505342-Naked-eye-comet-on-the-way A visitor from the outermost reaches of the solar system is about to become a naked-eye object. Introducing Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2025 R3): Michael Jaeger and Gerald Rhemann photographed the comet (magnitude +7.8) from Weißenkirchen, Austria: "The comet's brightness has increased significantly in recent weeks," they say. "One week after the full moon in April, it is expected to become visible to the naked eye." Discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey in Sept. 2025, the comet is diving toward its closest approach to the sun (0.50 AU) on April 19th, bringing it well inside the orbit of Venus. If current trends continue, the comet could brighten to magnitude +2, easily seen and photographed in the pre-dawn sky. https://www.sott.net/article/505342-Naked-eye-comet-on-the-way Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:56:56 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505335-The-mystery-of-the-Ohio-and-Texas-fireballs Is Earth under siege? If you've been reading headlines about space rocks falling over Ohio and Texas, you might be wondering what's going on. According to NASA, it's nothing unusual, yet still a little mysterious. "Spring is fireball season," says Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office. "For reasons we don't fully understand, the rate of very bright meteors climbs 10% to 30% during weeks around the vernal equinox." The Ohio and Texas meteors landed squarely in the middle of the season. Onlookers saw the Ohio fireball on March 17th only 3 days before the equinox. The Texas fireball appeared one day after the equinox on March 21st. Both were visible in broad daylight, with sonic booms and meteorites. One fragment reportedly punched through the roof of a home in suburban Houston. "Meteorite falls--fragments that actually hit the ground--are more common in spring as well," says Cooke. https://www.sott.net/article/505335-The-mystery-of-the-Ohio-and-Texas-fireballs Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:24:29 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/504477-A-new-comet-was-just-discovered-Will-it-be-visible-in-broad-daylight A newly discovered comet has astronomers excited, with the potential to be a spectacular sight in early April. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was spotted by a team of four amateur astronomers with a remotely operated telescope in the Atacama desert on January 13. It quickly became apparent the newly discovered object was a member of a group called the Kreutz sungrazing comets. These include many of the brightest and most spectacular comets ever seen. Comet MAPS is moving on an extreme, highly elongated orbit around the Sun, and is diving towards a fiery date with our star. In early April the comet will pass within just 120,000km of the Sun's surface. If the comet survives, it could become a spectacular sight in the evening sky in early April. It may even become visible in broad daylight as it swings closest to the Sun - unless it falls apart before then. So what makes these sungrazers so exciting, and what can we expect? https://www.sott.net/article/504477-A-new-comet-was-just-discovered-Will-it-be-visible-in-broad-daylight Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:49:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/504228-Halleys-Comet-wrongly-named-11th-century-English-monk-predates-British-astronomer The British astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley was not, after all, the first to understand the cycle of the comet that now bears his name. This is shown by research conducted by, among others, Professor Simon Portegies Zwart. It was the monk Eilmer of Malmesbury who, as early as the 11th century, linked two observations of the comet. The events are described by the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury, but until now this has gone unnoticed by scholars. Portegies Zwart and Lewis now argue that Aethelmaer witnessed both appearances of the comet. Their findings have been published in the book 'Dorestad and Everything After. Ports, townscapes & travellers in Europe, 800-1100'. Halley identifies the comet's periodicity Halley discovered that the very bright periodic comet later named after him, 1P/Halley, observed in 1531, 1607 and 1682, was in fact the same comet, returning approximately every 76 years. https://www.sott.net/article/504228-Halleys-Comet-wrongly-named-11th-century-English-monk-predates-British-astronomer Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:06:33 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/503993-Astronomers-may-have-already-spotted-the-Great-Comet-of-2026-and-it-could-soon-be-visible-to-the-naked-eye Recently discovered Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) will make its closest approach to the sun and Earth in late April and could potentially be visible to the naked eye. It may end up being the brightest comet of the year. We may be less than two weeks into 2026, but a new comet is already leading the charge to become the "Great Comet" of the year. The highly anticipated ice ball, which could potentially be seen with the naked eye, will reach its closest point to us less than four months from now. Scientists discovered the incoming comet, dubbed C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), on Sept. 8, 2025, in images captured by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) — a pair of 5.9-foot (1.8 meters) reflector telescopes located on the summit of Hawaii's Haleakalā volcano. It is currently around 216 million miles (348 million kilometers) from Earth, around halfway between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, according to TheSkyLive.com. C/2025 R3 is a long-period comet, meaning it... https://www.sott.net/article/503993-Astronomers-may-have-already-spotted-the-Great-Comet-of-2026-and-it-could-soon-be-visible-to-the-naked-eye Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:08:13 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/502954-New-image-of-comet-C-2025-K1-ATLAS-reveals-its-breaking-apart-ahead-of-close-approach-to-Earth New images show that comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) has fragmented after passing its closest point to the sun, ahead of its close approach to Earth later this month. This is not the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. The "other" Comet ATLAS has fragmented, transforming into a cloud of debris that's streaming into space, new observations have revealed. The comet, called C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), was discovered in May by astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and passed perihelion, or closest point to the sun, on Oct. 8. It has no relation to the famous interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, other than having been discovered by the same telescope network around the same time. Initial observations appeared to suggest that Comet K1 survived its passage around our star at a minimum distance of 31 million miles (50 million kilometers), or roughly four times closer than Comet 3I/ATLAS got. However, new observations taken by astronomer Gianluca Masi in Manciano, Italy, show that the... https://www.sott.net/article/502954-New-image-of-comet-C-2025-K1-ATLAS-reveals-its-breaking-apart-ahead-of-close-approach-to-Earth Fri, 14 Nov 2025 16:41:19 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/502847-Comet-3I-ATLAS-has-sprouted-an-unusual-tail After passing behind the sun in October, interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is now visible from Earth again. Astronomers are photographing it in the pre-dawn sky. Michael Jaeger of Austria has been tracking the comet since it re-appeared on Nov. 4th. "We have something unusual to report," he says. "3I/ATLAS showed a complex tail structure early this morning (Nov. 8th)." "At the time of exposure, the comet was 7-10° above the horizon," he says. "At the end, twilight interfered with the observation, which took place under bright moonlight. We observed from a mountain location." https://www.sott.net/article/502847-Comet-3I-ATLAS-has-sprouted-an-unusual-tail Sun, 09 Nov 2025 03:10:20 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/502646-A-meteors-glow-appears-to-coil-around-Comet-Lemmon-C-2025-A6-over-Earth On 24 Oct. 2025, while imaging comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon, we captured a meteor crossing the same field of view. Soon after, its red afterglow showed so nicely, adding its intriguing, fast evolving shape to the scene. During the imaging session of comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon on the evening of October 24, I had the good fortune to witness a truly fascinating phenomenon — one that, by sheer chance, I was able to capture. Between 17:39:30 and 17:41:30 UT, a meteor passed right through the region of the sky where Lemmon was visible. At that moment, a sequence of wide-field images was being acquired using the astrograph that is part of the Virtual Telescope Project instrumentation, installed in Manciano (Grosseto), in the beautiful Maremma region. In the frame taken between 17:43:33 and 17:45:33 UT, the persistent trail left by the meteor is clearly visible, with a distinct reddish hue. The faint, fan-like structure is likely due to some light which reached the imaging device while capturing the... https://www.sott.net/article/502646-A-meteors-glow-appears-to-coil-around-Comet-Lemmon-C-2025-A6-over-Earth Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:20:54 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/502346-Interstellar-Object-3I-ATLAS-Is-Spraying-Something-Weird-Scientists-Find A new analysis of our solar system's interstellar interloper, 3I/ATLAS, reveals that it's spewing huge amounts of water — and astronomers can't immediately explain why. The object, which is widely believed to be comet, showed strong ultraviolet emissions that are unmistakable telltales of hydroxyl gas (OH), a byproduct of water, when astronomers imaged it with NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift space telescope before it disappeared behind the Sun. The emissions could only be spotted from space because the ultraviolet light would get absorbed in the atmosphere. Their findings, detailed in a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, argue that the presence of all this OH indicates the comet is ejecting water vapor at a torrential rate of about 88 pounds per second — around the same rate as a fire hose running at full blast, according to a press release about the findings. https://www.sott.net/article/502346-Interstellar-Object-3I-ATLAS-Is-Spraying-Something-Weird-Scientists-Find Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:57:39 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/502217-Brightening-Comet-Lemmon With so much attention on interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, it is easy to forget a local comet brightening so rapidly that ordinary sky watchers will soon be able to see it with their own eyes: Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6). It is falling toward the sun for a close encounter near the orbit of Mercury on Nov. 8th. "This comet is developing very nicely and it is already an impressive object, well-placed for observation in the morning sky," says Nick James of the British Astronomical Association. "It is definitely worth getting up for!" The light curve of Comet Lemmon shows that it is about to cross the threshold (m=+6) of naked-eye visibility: "I think we can now be reasonably confident that this will be a very nice evening object when it is at its brightest around New Moon in late October," says James. https://www.sott.net/article/502217-Brightening-Comet-Lemmon Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:52:27 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/501854-New-evidence-says-an-exploding-comet-wiped-out-the-Clovis-culture-and-triggered-the-Younger-Dryas We don't realize it, but Earth is subjected to a constant cosmic rain of material. The vast majority of it is tiny micrometeors that burn up in the atmosphere, up to 100 tons per day by some estimates. But sometimes, much larger objects strike Earth. The most notable is probably the Chicxulub impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs and left a massive crater, now buried. There are many other large potential impactors that explode above the surface, called touchdown airbursts, and their effect on Earth is much harder to quantify. New research suggests that a swarm of debris from an exploding comet left its mark by triggering the Younger Dryas, a period of abrupt cooling around 12,000 years ago. The researchers say that the touchdown airburst and the resulting Younger Dryas led to the extinction of megafauna, and the disappearance of the Clovis culture. Their findings support the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) which states that the impact of a disintegrating asteroid or comet is... https://www.sott.net/article/501854-New-evidence-says-an-exploding-comet-wiped-out-the-Clovis-culture-and-triggered-the-Younger-Dryas Wed, 17 Sep 2025 08:07:55 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/501823-Evidence-of-ancient-asteroid-impact-and-tsunami-found-in-North-Carolina An asteroid that struck Chesapeake Bay 35 million years ago left a long trail of destruction in its wake, new research suggests. Around 35 million years ago, a small asteroid traveling at 40,000 miles per hour (64,373 kilometers per hour) struck Earth, crashing into the Atlantic Ocean near the modern-day town of Cape Charles, Virginia. The approximately 3-mile-wide (5-kilometer) object created a large impact crater that's buried half a mile beneath Chesapeake Bay. Hundreds of miles south of the crater, scientists have found new evidence of the asteroid impact and the tsunami that followed the shattering event. Hidden beneath the waters of the Chesapeake, the impact crater in Virginia is among the largest and most preserved craters found on Earth. The Chesapeake Bay crater was first discovered in 1990, and scientists are still trying to piece together the trail of destruction left by the asteroid. A team of geologists investigating fossils in Moore County, North Carolina, uncovered... https://www.sott.net/article/501823-Evidence-of-ancient-asteroid-impact-and-tsunami-found-in-North-Carolina Mon, 15 Sep 2025 17:39:19 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/501779-Bright-comet-surprises-astronomers A bright comet has emerged from behind the sun, surprising astronomers. Introducing, Comet SWAN25B; "The comet is magnitude 7.5, bright enough to see with backyard telescopes," reports Ernesto Guido. "This is our confirmation image taken just a couple hours ago via the Spaceflux network." The comet is named after the SWAN camera onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugly noticed the comet in online images. SWAN is a special camera that maps hydrogen in the solar wind, which suggests this comet may be rich in the element. https://www.sott.net/article/501779-Bright-comet-surprises-astronomers Fri, 12 Sep 2025 22:14:00 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/501368-The-backward-tail-of-interstellar-comet-3I-ATLAS Last month, when astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to photograph 3I/ATLAS, they had a "Eureka!" moment. The mysterious interstellar visitor had a fuzzy atmosphere and a growing tail. Clearly, it was a comet. However, something was not quite right. Take a look, and see if you can spot the problem: The tail of 3I/ATLAS points almost straight toward the sun. Normally, comet dust tails are pushed away from the sun by radiation pressure. 3I/ATLAS is doing the opposite — it's backwards. Why? Researchers led by David Jewitt of UCLA believe they have an explanation: "It is due to the preferential sublimation of ice on the hot day side of the nucleus and the near absence of sublimation on the night side," they wrote in a paper reporting the observations. https://www.sott.net/article/501368-The-backward-tail-of-interstellar-comet-3I-ATLAS Thu, 21 Aug 2025 18:14:16 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/500436-New-interstellar-object-Update-Its-a-comet A new object is entering the Solar System from interstellar space. Provisionally named A11pl3Z, it is about 20 kilometers wide and currently travelling at a blistering 66 km/s. Early measurements of its orbit suggest an eccentricity of 6 which, if confirmed, would be strong evidence that it comes from another star. A11pl3Z was first photographed by NASA's ATLAS asteroid system on June 14th. Only now, though, are astronomers understanding its significance. A11pl3Z is only the third known interstellar object to pass through the Solar System, following mystery object 'Oumuamua in 2017 and comet Borisov in 2019. This makes A11pl3Z a high-priority target for astronomers. The new visitor will spend months in range of backyard and professional telescopes. According to a preliminary orbit, A11pl3Z will pass between the orbits of Earth and Mars with a close approach to Mars in October 2025. After that, it will begin its journey back to the stars. https://www.sott.net/article/500436-New-interstellar-object-Update-Its-a-comet Thu, 03 Jul 2025 01:53:03 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/499959-Major-Younger-Dryas-impact-evidence-discovered-in-Louisiana-Shallow-airburst-crater-identified A stunning new scientific paper published today in Airbursts and Cratering Impacts provides some of the most compelling evidence yet for a Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB) impact structure — this time in Louisiana. The study, titled "Evidence of a 12,800-year-old Shallow Airburst Depression in Louisiana with Large Deposits of Shocked Quartz and Melted Materials", is a tour de force by 25 authors, including well-known names in the field such as James Kennett, Allen West, Christopher Moore, Malcolm LeCompte, and Marc Young — both of whom will be presenting this groundbreaking research live at Cosmic Summit 2025. The paper reports the discovery of an anomalous 300-meter-long depression east of Perkins, Louisiana, filled with high concentrations of impact proxies: shocked quartz, meltglass, microspherules, carbon spherules, and metallic flakes. Most remarkably, the authors argue the site represents a shallow "touch-down" airburst crater — potentially North America's first documented... https://www.sott.net/article/499959-Major-Younger-Dryas-impact-evidence-discovered-in-Louisiana-Shallow-airburst-crater-identified Thu, 05 Jun 2025 17:37:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/498877-New-comet-discovered-C-2025-F2-SWAN-and-it-has-a-glorious-tail Amateur astronomers are monitoring a bright new comet easily detectable by backyard telescopes. Introducing, Comet SWAN25F: "Newly-discovered Comet SWAN25F is brightening nicely as it approaches the sun," reports Mike Olason, who sends these pictures from Tucson, Arizona. "On the morning of April 6th, the comet was magnitude 8.4 with a bright green 3' wide coma and a thin tail that extended well beyond my field of view." The comet is named after the SWAN camera onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Australian amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo noticed the comet in online images. SWAN is a special camera that maps hydrogen in the solar wind, which suggests this comet may be rich in the element. https://www.sott.net/article/498877-New-comet-discovered-C-2025-F2-SWAN-and-it-has-a-glorious-tail Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:22:54 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/498286-Worlds-oldest-impact-crater-found-rewriting-Earths-ancient-history Curtin University researchers have discovered the world's oldest known meteorite impact crater, which could significantly redefine our understanding of the origins of life and how our planet was shaped. The team from Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) investigated rock layers in the North Pole Dome — an area of the Pilbara region of Western Australia — and found evidence of a major meteorite impact 3.5 billion years ago. Study co-lead Professor Tim Johnson, from Curtin University, said the discovery significantly challenged previous assumptions about our planet's ancient history. "Before our discovery, the oldest impact crater was 2.2 billion years old, so this is by far the oldest known crater ever found on Earth," Professor Johnson said. Researchers discovered the crater thanks to 'shatter cones', distinctive rock formations only formed under the intense pressure of a meteorite strike. The shatter cones at the... https://www.sott.net/article/498286-Worlds-oldest-impact-crater-found-rewriting-Earths-ancient-history Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:44:52 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/498135-A-million-asteroids-from-Alpha-Centauri-already-here-says-new-study If you want to travel to Alpha Centauri, it'll take thousands of years using current technology. It might be easier to wait. Astronomers have long known that the triple star system is approaching Earth for a close encounter 28,000 years from now. Indeed, a new study contends that asteroids from alpha Centauri are already here. "We estimate that a million asteroid-sized objects from the alpha Centauri system could be in the Solar System right now," says Cole Gregg, a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and co-author of the study just accepted by the Planetary Science Journal. This simulation from the study shows asteroids entering the Solar System as alpha Centauri passes by: Interest in alien asteroids spiked in 2017 when 'Oumuamua raced through the solar system. Prof. Avi Loeb from Harvard argued that the cigar-shaped object might be an alien spacecraft, but most astronomers went with Occam's Razor. It was more likely a natural body from another star system,... https://www.sott.net/article/498135-A-million-asteroids-from-Alpha-Centauri-already-here-says-new-study Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:59:20 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/497797-Astronomers-investigate-the-evolution-of-a-newly-detected-supernova An international team of astronomers has investigated a newly detected Type II supernova designated SN 2024jlf. The new study, detailed in a paper published Jan. 30 on the arXiv pre-print server, yields important information regarding the evolution of this supernova and the nature of its progenitor. Type II supernovae (SNe) are the results of rapid collapse and violent explosion of massive stars (with masses above 8.0 solar masses). They are distinguished from other SNe by the presence of hydrogen in their spectra. Based on the shape of their light curves, they are usually divided into Type IIL and Type IIP. Type IIL SNe show a steady (linear) decline after the explosion, while Type IIP exhibit a period of slower decline (a plateau) that is followed by a normal decay. SN 2024jlf was first spotted on May 28, 2024 using the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), with a brightness of 15.88 mag. The supernova occurred in NGC 5690 — an edge-on spiral galaxy at a redshift of 0.0058. Subsequent... https://www.sott.net/article/497797-Astronomers-investigate-the-evolution-of-a-newly-detected-supernova Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:41:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/497548-Newly-discovered-asteroid-has-slight-chance-of-Earth-impact-in-2032 The discovery marks only the second time that an asteroid's impact risk has reached greater than a 1% chance. Astronomers — professional and amateur alike — have turned their attention to an asteroid with a slight chance of impacting Earth in 2032, based on current observations. While the possibility is slim, and more observations are needed, the object itself might be large enough to devastate a city, motivating follow-up observations as well as archival searches for pre-discovery observations. The asteroid, designated 2024 YR4, was first noticed on December 27, 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS); searches quickly revealed that ATLAS had already imaged it two days earlier. Then, as observations accumulated, astronomers could roughly determine its orbit. That's when the realization dawned: The object has some chance of striking Earth. On Monday, January 27th, NASA's Sentry impact-tracking system officially raised the asteroid to a level 3 on the... https://www.sott.net/article/497548-Newly-discovered-asteroid-has-slight-chance-of-Earth-impact-in-2032 Wed, 29 Jan 2025 15:36:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/496668-James-Webb-telescope-spots-more-than-100-new-asteroids-between-Jupiter-and-Mars-and-some-are-heading-toward-Earth Astronomers analyzing archival images from JWST have discovered an unexpectedly vast population of the smallest asteroids ever seen in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers analyzing archival images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered an unexpectedly vast population of the smallest asteroids ever seen in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The finding could lead to better tracking of the tiny but powerful space rocks that are likely to approach Earth. The newfound asteroids range in size from that of a bus to several stadiums — tiny compared to the massive space rock that wiped out most dinosaurs, but they nevertheless pack a significant punch. Only a decade ago an asteroid just tens of meters in size took everyone by surprise when it exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, and released 30 times more energy than the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima in WWII. These so-called "decameter" asteroids collide with Earth 10,000 times more... https://www.sott.net/article/496668-James-Webb-telescope-spots-more-than-100-new-asteroids-between-Jupiter-and-Mars-and-some-are-heading-toward-Earth Sun, 15 Dec 2024 15:58:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/496643-Meteor-strikes-on-the-moon-Astronomer-captures-possible-Geminid-lunar-impacts Several brief flashes on the lunar surface were captured from Earth. As we approach the peak of the Geminid meteor shower overnight on Friday (Dec. 13), the skies are beginning to light up with impressive meteors striking Earth's atmosphere. But Earth isn't the only target; the moon is regularly bombarded with such meteors, and Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, has captured some of the most recent collisions. Fujii documented meteor impacts on the moon on Dec. 6, Dec. 7 and twice on Dec. 8, 2024, using cameras set to monitor Earth's nearest neighbor. You can view some of his lunar impact videos (as well as some impressive fireballs) on his X account. "There was another lunar impact flash tonight. I filmed it at 360fps from my home at 22:34:35 on December 8, 2024 (slow playback) and was able to confirm it with multiple telescopes. Bright meteors and fireballs have been appearing every day, but lunar impact flashes have also been captured one after... https://www.sott.net/article/496643-Meteor-strikes-on-the-moon-Astronomer-captures-possible-Geminid-lunar-impacts Sat, 14 Dec 2024 01:38:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/496555-New-Webb-telescope-view-shows-unexpectedly-crowded-asteroid-belt A new view of archival Webb telescope data reveals small asteroids in the main asteroid belt are more numerous than we thought. Astronomers have uncovered an unexpectedly large population of small main-belt asteroids thanks to a new analysis of images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The finding could change calculations of the impact rate on Earth from such bodies, which range from house-size to the size of a stadium. These are by far the smallest objects ever imaged so far away. Artem Burdanov (MIT) and colleagues applied a computationally intensive shift-and-stack method to Webb's archival images. From the telescope's sensitive infrared detectors, the team was able to accurately determine the sizes of small objects, ranging from about 10 to 500 meters (30 to 1,600 feet) across. An early release of their results appears in Nature. Larger main-belt asteroids, whose orbits are between those of Mars and Jupiter, tend to remain in relatively stable orbits. However, gravitational... https://www.sott.net/article/496555-New-Webb-telescope-view-shows-unexpectedly-crowded-asteroid-belt Mon, 09 Dec 2024 16:51:58 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/496351-Earth-from-space-Wandering-sand-dunes-circle-gigantic-eye-sculpted-by-meteor-in-the-Sahara This 2013 astronaut photo shows a giant eye-shaped impact crater in the Sahara Desert that is slowly being circled by migrating sand dunes, helping researchers track how far these dunes can move over time. This striking astronaut photo shows off an "eye-catching" impact crater in the Sahara Desert. The oculus-like structure is surrounded by migrating sand dunes that are capable of traveling more than 100 feet (30 meters) every year. The Aorounga structure is a 7.8-mile-wide (12.6 kilometers) impact crater located in the southeast Sahara in northern Chad. The crater is made up of two rings that give the structure its eye-like appearance: An inner ring with a central hill, or uplift structure, that looks like a pupil; and an outer ring that looks like an eyelid. The rings rise around 330 feet (100 m) above the surrounding ground but have been heavily eroded over time — similar to other ancient impact craters — and were likely even taller and wider originally. Experts believe that the... https://www.sott.net/article/496351-Earth-from-space-Wandering-sand-dunes-circle-gigantic-eye-sculpted-by-meteor-in-the-Sahara Tue, 26 Nov 2024 18:06:18 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/495778-Comet-ATLAS-C-2024-S1-burns-up-as-it-flies-into-the-sun Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is no more. On Monday (Oct. 28), the comet evaporated as it was heading toward perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its orbit. There were earlier hopes that the comet, officially designated C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), could become a "Halloween treat" visible to the naked eye, but these were ultimately just wishful thinking; astronomers had already begun observing the cosmic snowball beginning to disintegrate earlier this month. Now, thanks to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a spacecraft jointly operated by NASA and the European Space Agency, we know for sure how and when comet ATLAS met its demise. Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) passed its closest point to Earth on Oct. 23, reaching a magnitude of 8.7, far too dim to be seen with the naked eye. Still, telescopes were able to catch a glimpse of the icy visitor from the outer solar system. After that approach, the comet began flying toward the sun, making it difficult to see by anything other than... https://www.sott.net/article/495778-Comet-ATLAS-C-2024-S1-burns-up-as-it-flies-into-the-sun Mon, 28 Oct 2024 21:47:18 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/495657-4-large-asteroids-including-a-skyscraper-size-city-killer-will-zoom-past-Earth-in-a-12-hour-span-on-October-24th Four "potentially hazardous" space rocks, which are between 100 and 580 feet across, will all make their closest approaches to Earth within less than 12 hours of one another on Thursday (Oct. 24). Two of them were only discovered earlier this month. A quartet of particularly hefty asteroids, including two that were discovered earlier this month and another that is as tall as a skyscraper, will make their closest approaches to Earth on Thursday (Oct. 24) — all within 12 hours of one another. The "potentially hazardous" space rocks will all get similarly close to our planet, but pose zero threat to life on Earth. The first asteroid to make its closest approach will be 2015 HM1, also the smallest of the four space rocks at around 100 feet (30 meters) across. It will reach its closest point to our planet at around 4:36 a.m. UTC (0:36 a.m. EDT) when it reaches a minimum distance of 3.4 million miles (5.5 million kilometers) from us, according to NASA's Asteroid Watch dashboard. (That's... https://www.sott.net/article/495657-4-large-asteroids-including-a-skyscraper-size-city-killer-will-zoom-past-Earth-in-a-12-hour-span-on-October-24th Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:09:57 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/495209-Five-mile-asteroid-impact-crater-below-Atlantic-captured-in-exquisite-detail-by-seismic-data New images of an asteroid impact crater buried deep below the floor of the Atlantic Ocean have been published today by researchers at Heriot-Watt University. The images confirm the 9km Nadir Crater, located 300m under the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, was caused by an asteroid smashing into Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period around 66 million years ago. That's the same age as the dinosaur-killing 200 km wide, Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico. There are around 20 confirmed marine craters worldwide, and none of them has been captured in anything close to this level of detail. Dr Uisdean Nicholson The images have helped the researchers determine what happened in the minutes following impact: the formation of an initial bowl-shaped crater, rocks turned to a fluid-like state and flowing upwards to the crater floor, the creation of a damage zone covering thousands of square kilometres beyond the crater, and an 800-metre-plus high tsunami that would have travelled across the... https://www.sott.net/article/495209-Five-mile-asteroid-impact-crater-below-Atlantic-captured-in-exquisite-detail-by-seismic-data Thu, 03 Oct 2024 17:46:02 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/495150-A-big-new-sungrazing-comet Astronomers are monitoring a new comet discovered just a few days ago by the ATLAS survey. It's so new, it doesn't have a name yet. Provisionally designated "A11bP7I," the comet appears to be a relatively large sungrazer on course to become a bright naked-eye object in late October. Dennis Möller, Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann photographed the new discovery last night in Namibia: "We are here in Namibia to observe Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS," says Jäger. "The new sungrazing comet was discovered not far away, so we took a look. It is already 11th mag with a 2' green coma and a short tail." The orbit and brightness of A11bP7I remind experts of Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3), a sungrazer that flew through the sun's atmosphere in Dec. 2011. Comet Lovejoy emerged from the close encounter intact and put on a spectacular show for amateur astronomers during the Christmas holidays of that year. https://www.sott.net/article/495150-A-big-new-sungrazing-comet Mon, 30 Sep 2024 17:11:46 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/493024-The-origins-of-dark-comets Up to 60% of near-Earth objects could be dark comets, mysterious asteroids that orbit the sun in our solar system that likely contain or previously contained ice and could have been one route for delivering water to Earth, according to a University of Michigan study. The findings suggest that asteroids in the asteroid belt, a region of the solar system roughly between Jupiter and Mars that contains much of the system's rocky asteroids, have subsurface ice, something that has been suspected since the 1980s, according to Aster Taylor, U-M graduate student in astronomy and lead author of the study. The study also shows a potential pathway for delivering ice into the near-Earth solar system, Taylor says. How Earth got its water is a longstanding question. "We don't know if these dark comets delivered water to Earth. We can't say that. But we can say that there is still debate over how exactly the Earth's water got here," Taylor said. "The work we've done has shown that this is another... https://www.sott.net/article/493024-The-origins-of-dark-comets Thu, 11 Jul 2024 17:58:49 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/492588-Shocked-quartz-reveals-evidence-of-historical-cosmic-airburst-from-12800-years-ago Researchers continue to expand the case for the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis. The idea proposes that a fragmented comet smashed into the Earth's atmosphere 12,800 years ago, causing a widespread climatic shift that, among other things, led to the abrupt reversal of the Earth's warming trend and into an anomalous near-glacial period called the Younger Dryas. Now, UC Santa Barbara emeritus professor James Kennett and colleagues report the presence of proxies associated with the cosmic airburst distributed over several separate sites in the eastern United States (New Jersey, Maryland and South Carolina), materials indicative of the force and temperature involved in such an event, including platinum, microspherules, meltglass and shock-fractured quartz. The study appears in ScienceOpen's journal Airbursts and Cratering. "What we've found is that the pressures and temperatures were not characteristic of major crater-forming impacts but were consistent with so-called 'touchdown'... https://www.sott.net/article/492588-Shocked-quartz-reveals-evidence-of-historical-cosmic-airburst-from-12800-years-ago Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:15:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/491858-Study-uncovers-new-evidence-supporting-Younger-Dryas-impact-hypothesis If you wanted evidence that a giant comet wiped out the wooly mammoth, you might look for a giant crater. But so far, you'd be out of luck. "Some of our critics have said, 'Where's the crater?'" says Christopher Moore, an archaeologist at the University of South Carolina. "As of now, we don't have a crater or craters." But Moore says that by looking below the surface, you can find strong evidence for the Younger-Dryas impact hypothesis, which states that large comet fragments hit Earth or exploded in the atmosphere shortly after the last ice age, setting off cataclysmic changes in the environment, crater or not. https://www.sott.net/article/491858-Study-uncovers-new-evidence-supporting-Younger-Dryas-impact-hypothesis Fri, 31 May 2024 18:20:21 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/491527-Bright-meteor-fireball-illuminates-night-sky-over-Spain-and-Portugal-on-May-18-Update-Calculated-total-impact-energy-0-13kt-TNT Lately we have been having a lot of meteor activity over the Iberian Peninsula, a phenomenon that causes great expectation. As you will remember, on March 29 we had two bolides over the eastern part of Spain, which generated many comments. Tonight, around 0:46 CET (23:46 Lisbon time), a bright fireball has illuminated the skies of Spain and Portugal. According to the Civil Protection of Portugal, the meteor would have fallen in the village of Pereira, in Castro Daire, northern Portugal, 60 km southwest of Porto. Portugal declared an alert and mobilized its firefighters in case there was any information. Here we can see an impressive video recorded by @rvbzzx in Lisbon and slowed down by @jpunto88_ to make it look better: https://www.sott.net/article/491527-Bright-meteor-fireball-illuminates-night-sky-over-Spain-and-Portugal-on-May-18-Update-Calculated-total-impact-energy-0-13kt-TNT Sun, 19 May 2024 01:51:27 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/490437-Airbursts-An-underappreciated-hazard A paper published in March of 2021 in the journal Science Advances reports on the discovery of evidence for a large airburst type impact within the SØr Rondane Mountains, Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. The report bears the names of a 15-member international team that did the research. The lead author was M. Van Ginneken with the Belgian Geological Survey. In the first sentence of the abstract to the article the authors support something I have been saying for literally decades: "Large airbursts, the most frequent hazardous impact events, are estimated to occur orders of magnitude more frequently than crater-forming impacts." This fact is confirmed simply because airbursts don't leave impact craters. In this case the fingerprints of the event took the form of condensation spherules resulting from "a touchdown event, in which a projectile vapor jet interacts with the Antarctic ice sheet." The authors go on to explain that "Finding evidence of these low-altitude meteoritic events... https://www.sott.net/article/490437-Airbursts-An-underappreciated-hazard Mon, 08 Apr 2024 03:08:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/490349-The-Devil-Comet-is-now-a-naked-eye-object Suddenly, amateur astronomers are seeing a naked-eye comet in the evening sky. It's Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the 'devil comet'. Waiting for next Monday's solar eclipse in Mexico, Petr Horálek photographed the comet last night and found it much brighter than the last time he saw it: "I assume an outburst is in progress," says Horálek. "My estimate of the comet's magnitude is +3.5. Definitely worth taking a look in the next hours and days." Indeed, now is a good time to look. After sunset, the comet emerges in the western sky not far from the planet Jupiter. Naked-eye observers will see a dim fuzzball. Cameras and small telescopes reveal the comet's magnificent tail. https://www.sott.net/article/490349-The-Devil-Comet-is-now-a-naked-eye-object Thu, 04 Apr 2024 06:23:27 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/489680-The-comet-strike-theory-that-just-wont-die Mainstream science has done its best to debunk the notion, but a belief in a world-changing series of prehistoric impacts continues to gain momentum. In 2007, a group of researchers, led by a nuclear physicist named Richard Firestone, announced an astonishing discovery. They had uncovered evidence, they said, that 12,900 years ago, a comet — or possibly a whole fleet of comets — struck Earth and changed the course of history. For the preceding two and a half million years, through the Pleistocene Epoch, the planet's climate fluctuated between frozen stretches, called glacials, and warm interglacials. At that time, Earth was warming again, and the ice sheets that covered much of North America, Europe and Asia were in retreat. Mammoths, steppe bison, wild horses and other enormous mammals still wandered the Americas, pursued by bands of humans wielding spears with fluted stone blades. Suddenly, somewhere over the Upper Midwest — an explosion. Presenting their claim in the Proceedings... https://www.sott.net/article/489680-The-comet-strike-theory-that-just-wont-die Sun, 10 Mar 2024 21:24:24 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/489513-Meteor-fireball-over-northern-parts-of-the-Netherlands-on-March-2 On Saturday evening, March 2nd, a meteor/fireballl with a bright orange/white color was seen by many Dutch residents in the northern Dutch province of Friesland and the Wadden Islands. The meteor/fireball was captured at 19:39:14 PM CET by Jan-Age de Boer in Friesland, near the Dutch village of Munnekezijl. https://www.sott.net/article/489513-Meteor-fireball-over-northern-parts-of-the-Netherlands-on-March-2 Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:37:30 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/489500-Large-ingenous-events-cosmic-impacts-and-crises-in-the-history-of-life Last month, in the February 2024 issue of the Kosmographia Newsletter I reported on new research correlating a series of large-scale igneous events which produced the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and the Siberian Traps with mass extinction episodes. On February 8 another paper was published in the journal Global and Planetary Change which further supports correlations between mass extinction episodes with gigantic volcanic eruptions and catastrophic cosmic impacts. The lead author of the paper is Michael Rampino, who has for decades been in the forefront of researching catastrophic events in Earth history. I have been following his work since the early 1980s and hold him in high regard as a scientist who is willing to think outside established paradigms of Earth history. The abstract to the paper begins: "We find that Large Igneous Province (LIP) volcanism, mostly continental flood basalts (CFBs), along with the largest extraterrestrial impacts show significant... https://www.sott.net/article/489500-Large-ingenous-events-cosmic-impacts-and-crises-in-the-history-of-life Mon, 04 Mar 2024 20:17:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/487851-Meteor-fireball-reported-over-Japan-on-January-15 Reports suggest that what appeared to be a flashy object traveling at breakneck speed over Japanese skies could be a meteorite after residents heard a loud explosion a few minutes after its passage. Social media chatter among Japanese users is currently focused on the sighting of a luminous "fireball" that dashed across the sky on Monday morning. The celestial spectacle was observed primarily in Japan's eastern and northeastern regions, according to media reports. Daichi Fujii, the curator of the local history museum in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, was among the first to provide an account of the event. He posted the footage of the speeding object in the sky on his X social media page. Fujii noted that the clip was recorded on camera at his home in Hiratsuka and another in the neighboring Shizuoka Prefecture. https://www.sott.net/article/487851-Meteor-fireball-reported-over-Japan-on-January-15 Mon, 15 Jan 2024 15:59:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/486928-New-genes-found-that-can-arise-from-nothing The complexity of living organisms is encoded within their genes, but where do these genes come from? Researchers at the University of Helsinki resolved outstanding questions around the origin of small regulatory genes, and described a mechanism that creates their DNA palindromes. Under suitable circumstances, these palindromes evolve into microRNA genes. The human genome contains ca. 20,000 genes that are used for the construction of proteins. Actions of these classical genes are coordinated by thousands of regulatory genes, the smallest of which encode microRNA molecules that are 22 base pairs in length. While the number of genes remains relatively constant, occasionally, new genes emerge during evolution. Similar to the genesis of biological life, the origin of new genes has continued to fascinate scientists. All RNA molecules require palindromic runs of bases that lock the molecule into its functional conformation. Importantly, the chances of random base mutations gradually... https://www.sott.net/article/486928-New-genes-found-that-can-arise-from-nothing Sat, 16 Dec 2023 12:27:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/486845-The-Geminids-are-still-a-mystery Every great mystery novel has an unexpected twist. Apparently the same is true of meteor showers. A paper published in the Planetary Science Journal reports a surprising new twist in the mystery of the Geminids, a strong annual meteor shower that has puzzled astronomers for more than a century. "Our work has upended years of belief about 3200 Phaethon, the source of the Geminids," says co-author Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab. "It's not what we thought it was." The Geminids peak every year in mid-December, scattering hundreds of bright meteors across northern winter skies. Numerically it is the best meteor shower of the year. As meteor showers go, Geminids are newcomers. They first appeared in the mid-1800s when an unknown stream of debris crossed Earth's orbit. Surprised, 19th century astronomers scoured the sky for the parent comet, but they found nothing. The search would continue for another 100 years. Enter NASA. In 1983, the space agency's Infrared Astronomical... https://www.sott.net/article/486845-The-Geminids-are-still-a-mystery Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:30:55 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/486733-Comets-may-have-caused-Earths-great-empires-to-fall Recent scientific discoveries are shedding new light on why great empires such as Egypt, Babylon and Rome fell apart, giving way to the periodic "dark ages'' that punctuate human history. At least five times during the last 6,000 years, major environmental calamities undermined civilizations around the world. Some researchers say these disasters appear to be linked to collisions with comets or fragments of comets such as the one that broke apart and smashed spectacularly into Jupiter five years ago. The impacts, yielding many megatons of explosive energy, produced vast clouds of smoke and dust that circled the globe for years, dimming the sun, driving down temperatures and sowing hunger, disease and death. The last such global crisis occurred between A.D. 530 and 540 - at the beginning of the Dark Ages in Europe - when Earth was pummeled by a swarm of cosmic debris. https://www.sott.net/article/486733-Comets-may-have-caused-Earths-great-empires-to-fall Sat, 09 Dec 2023 20:43:31 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/486243-Recently-discovered-nova-investigated-by-astronomers Astronomers from the Liverpool John Moores University have performed photometric and spectroscopic observations of a recently discovered nova, known as AT 2023prq. Results of the observational campaign, published in the November issue of the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), shed more light on the nature of this nova. A nova is a star experiencing a sudden increase in brightness and slowly returning to its original state, a process that could last many months. Such an outburst, which releases an immense amount of energy, is the result of the accretion process in a close binary system containing a white dwarf and its companion. Studying novae is crucial in advancing our knowledge about fundamental astrophysical processes, including stellar evolution. AT 2023prq (other designation ZTF23aaxzvrr) was detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on August 15, 2023, in the halo of the Andromeda galaxy (or Messier 31, M31). It had an r′-band magnitude of 17.13... https://www.sott.net/article/486243-Recently-discovered-nova-investigated-by-astronomers Wed, 22 Nov 2023 17:51:05 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/485779-Volcanic-devil-comet-racing-toward-Earth-resprouts-its-horns-after-erupting-again The massive volcanic comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which grows giant horns when it erupts, has exploded for a third time in five months as it continues to race toward the sun. A volcanic "devil comet" that is racing toward Earth erupted again on Halloween, causing it to regrow its distinctive "horns." The latest outburst, which was the second within a month and the third since July, is a reminder that the comet is becoming more volcanically active as it continues its journey toward the heart of the solar system. The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P), is a cryovolcanic, or cold volcano, comet. Like other comets, 12P has a solid nucleus — a hard, icy shell filled with ice, gas and dust — that is surrounded by a fuzzy cloud, or coma made of materials that leak out of the comet's insides. But unlike non-volcanic comets, radiation from the sun can superheat 12P's interior, causing pressure to build up until it becomes so intense it cracks the nucleus' shell from the inside and sprays its icy... https://www.sott.net/article/485779-Volcanic-devil-comet-racing-toward-Earth-resprouts-its-horns-after-erupting-again Tue, 07 Nov 2023 18:24:22 +0000