A new flyby mission selected by the European Space Agency this week for launch in 2028 will be the first to intercept a new comet or interstellar object fresh from the frozen depths of the outer solar system, or beyond.
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observed the hyperactive Jupiter-family comet 46P/Wirtanen as it made its closest approach to Earth in December 2018. Now the latest analysis of SOFIA’s data reveals that water in hyperactive comets may share a common origin with Earth’s oceans, reinforcing the idea that comets played a key role in bringing water to our planet billions of years ago.
New chemical process could open up O2 production in space.
And where have they all gone?
The raw materials from a comet have been found sealed inside a pristine, primitive meteorite.
Small but hyperactive Comet 46P/Wirtanen is approaching Earth and could soon become visible to the naked eye.
New scientific reports are again confirming the electrical nature of one of the most mysterious phenomena in the cosmos, the comet.
Astronomers are calling Comet 46P/Wirtanen the “comet of the year.”
They both orbit the sun, but they’re very different.
Ever since space scientists first spotted the odd, cigar-shaped object known as 1I/‘Oumuamua in the sky, they have been debating what it is exactly. Suggestions have included an asteroid, a comet and even alien spaceship. Now a study, published in Nature, suggests it may actually be a comet – but an unusual one.
