Comet : Science World Report

Oct 24, 2013 03:46 AM EDT

Comet ISON Starts Sublimation, Turns Green

The nucleus of comet ISON appeared green, which points towards the comet getting livelier as its getting closer to our Sun. The comet started experiencing sublimation.

Sep 20, 2013 03:37 PM EDT

End of Life for Adventurous Deep Space Comet Hunter Mission

After almost 9 years in space that included an unprecedented July 4th impact and subsequent flyby of a comet, an additional comet flyby, and the return of approximately 500,000 images of celestial objects, NASA's Deep Impact mission has ended.

Sep 10, 2013 09:04 PM EDT

100 Billion Tons of Water Floating in Space: Researchers Discover Comet Hiding in Plain Sight

For 30 years, a large near-Earth asteroid wandered its lone, intrepid path, passing before the scrutinizing eyes of scientists while keeping something to itself: (3552) Don Quixote, whose journey stretches to the orbit of Jupiter, now appears to be a comet.

Jul 17, 2013 05:01 PM EDT

Path of Doom: What is a Sungrazing Comet?

Sungrazing comets are a special class of comets that come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion. To be considered a sungrazer, a comeet needs to get within about 850,000 miles from the sun at perihelion. Many come even closer, even to within a few thousand miles.

Jun 07, 2013 05:21 PM EDT

Supercomputer Simulations Show That Powerful Comet Impacts Delivered Building Blocks of Life to Earth

By employing the most powerful supercomputers to calculate comet impact events, scientists found that the materials and chemical reactions from these events brought an abundance of life building organic compounds to Earth. Before this happened, early Earth was not very hospitable when it came to jum...

Apr 29, 2013 08:49 AM EDT

'Comet of the Century' Could Create a Strange 'Meteor Shower' with Cosmic Dust

The "comet of the century" is coming closer, and it could create a strange kind of meteor shower as scientists gear up to observe the phenomenon.

Apr 23, 2013 04:11 PM EDT

Spectacular Comet ISON Pictured and Analyzed by Hubble Space Telescope

Eagerly awaited and spectacular comet C/ISON was now imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope on April 10 using the Wide Field Camera 3 on its approach towards the sun, when the comet was at about the distance of Jupiter: 621 million kilometers from the Sun and 634 million kilometers from the Earth.

Apr 23, 2013 12:31 PM EDT

Origin of Water on Jupiter Discovered: Comet Smashed into Planet

Water has been seen in Jupiter's stratosphere before, and now researchers know where it came from. A massive comet smashed into the surface helped ferry the water to the giant planet.

Apr 15, 2013 09:21 PM EDT

Enormous Comet Impact into Mars Less Likely, Says NASA

The enormous comet C/2013 A1, also called Sliding Spring, that is on a near-collision course with Mars is after all very unlikely to hit when it closely approaches the Red Planet later in 2014, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in an update.

Mar 09, 2013 11:02 PM EST

How to Spot Comet PanSTARRS This Tuesday

One of the brightest comets in years, which will be only surpassed by ISON in November this year, is now visible from the Northern Hemisphere of our planet. The comet Pan-STARRS will be crossing the sky over the coming week.

Feb 16, 2013 02:05 AM EST

Second Asteroid Mining Company Wants to Build Defense System As Well

Today's impact in Russia and the near miss by asteroid 2012 DA14 should shock the world enough to finally act with determination to create an appropriate defense system. Since we didn't even see the comet coming that exploded yesterday over Russia injuring over 1200 people and damaging buildings, a ...

Dec 28, 2012 04:44 PM EST

Space highlights 2013: Supercomet could outshine moon

There will be some cosmic fireworks in 2013, like one of the potentially brightest comets in decades. The comet known as C/2012 S1 (or ISON), was first discovered in September, and is expected to outshine even the moon and be visible at day at its peak.