Tag: Comets

Explosive, green ‘devil comet’ has hidden spiral swirling around its icy heart, photo trickery reveals

The explosive, city-size “devil comet” that is due to fly past Earth later this year has a hidden spiral of light surrounding its gigantic icy heart, new images show. This glowing green swirl would likely have remained undetected without a bit of photo wizardry.  The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P), is a 10.5 mile-wide (17 kilometers) […]

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City-size ‘devil comet’ headed for Earth loses its iconic horns and turns green after latest volcanic eruption

The massive volcanic “devil comet,” that is racing toward the sun may have lost the distinctive horns that earned it its sinister nickname. Last week, after the comet’s latest and most violent outburst yet, its trademark head spikes did not appear as they did after previous eruptions. But astronomers have spotted several new characteristics of […]

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How and When to Watch the Leonids Meteor Shower Peak

On any given night, far from bright city lights, there’s a chance that you’ll see a beautiful streak shoot across the sky as a meteor flies overhead. But on special dates scattered throughout the year, skywatchers can catch a multitude of flares as meteor showers burst in the darkness. The next event is the Leonids, […]

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How and When to Watch the Orionids Meteor Shower Peak

On any given night, far from bright city lights, there’s a chance that you’ll see a beautiful streak shoot across the sky as a meteor flies overhead. But on special dates scattered throughout the year, skywatchers can catch a multitude of flares as meteor showers burst in the darkness. The next event is the Orionids, […]

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See green comet Nishimura’s tail get whipped away by powerful solar storm as it slingshots around the sun (video)

The recently discovered green comet Nishimura has been body slammed by a potential coronal mass ejection (CME) after surviving a close encounter with the sun. The unexpected collision, which briefly blew away the comet’s tail, was caught on camera by a NASA spacecraft.  In footage captured by NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO-A) spacecraft, the […]

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Comet Nishimura photobombs NASA spacecraft after its close encounter with the sun (photos)

The recently discovered Comet Nishimura has surprised scientists by photobombing a NASA spacecraft as it took images of the sun. Comet Nishimura, also known as C/2023 P1, which appears to have recently survived a close encounter with the sun, was seen by one of two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft —  STEREO-A  —  as it […]

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A Fireball Whacked Into Jupiter, and Astronomers Got It on Video

Ko Arimatsu, an astronomer at Kyoto University in Japan, received an intriguing email a couple of weeks ago: An amateur astronomer in his country had spotted a bright flash in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Dr. Arimatsu, who runs an observation program to study the outer solar system using backyard astronomy equipment, put out a call for more […]

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Comet Nishimura: How and When to See It This Weekend

Astronomy aficionados are buzzing about a bright new comet. The ball of dust and ice is formally named C/2023 P1, but is also called Comet Nishimura, for Hideo Nishimura, the Japanese photographer who first spotted it. And you may have an opportunity to see it as well during the next few nights. How was the […]

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