News articles tagged with 'comet'
Formaldehyde: Poison could have set the stage for the origins of life
— 6 Apr 2011 17:22 | ChemistryFormaldehyde, a poison and a common molecule throughout the universe, is likely the source of the solar system's organic carbon solids - abundant in both comets and asteroids. Scientists…
Frozen comet had a watery past, University of Arizona scientists find
— 6 Apr 2011 15:46 | AstronomyFor the first time, scientists have found convincing evidence for the presence of liquid water in a comet, shattering the current paradigm that comets never get warm enough to melt…
2-timing spacecraft has date with another comet
— 12 Feb 2011 20:10 | AstronomyNASA's Stardust spacecraft, equipped with the University of Chicago's Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI), is hurtling at more than 24,000 miles an hour toward a Valentine's Day encounter…
Stardust NExT set to meet its second comet
— 10 Feb 2011 19:07 | AstronomyStardust NExT must love comets. On Valentine's Day the spacecraft will get up close and personal with its second…
Jupiter scar likely from rocky body
— 27 Jan 2011 18:50 | AstronomyA hurtling asteroid about the size of the Titanic caused the scar that appeared in Jupiter's atmosphere on July 19, 2009, according to two papers published recently in the journal Icarus…
SOHO spots 2,000th comet
— 4 Jan 2011 21:23 | AstronomyAs people on Earth celebrate the holidays and prepare to ring in the New Year, an ESA/NASA spacecraft has quietly reached its own milestone: on December 26, the Solar and Heliospheric…
New cometary phenomenon greets approaching spacecraft
— 23 Oct 2010 17:21 | AstronomyRecent observations of comet Hartley 2 have scientists scratching their heads, while they anticipate a flyby of the small, icy world on Nov. 4. A phenomenon was recorded by imagers…
Hartley 2 visible in night sky
— 21 Oct 2010 20:24 | AstronomyBackyard stargazers with a telescope or binoculars and a clear night's sky can now inspect the comet that in a little over two weeks will become only the fifth in history to be imaged…
Deep impact spacecraft to make last swing by Earth on way to second comet
— 26 Jun 2010 13:13 | AstronomyOn Sunday, NASA's historic Deep Impact spacecraft will fly past Earth for the fifth and last time on its current University of Maryland-led EPOXI mission. At time of closest approach…
Many famous comets originally formed in other solar systems
— 11 Jun 2010 12:09 | AstronomyMany of the most well known comets, including Halley, Hale-Bopp and, most recently, McNaught, may have been born in orbit around other stars, according to a new theory by an international…