comet

Claims of Tunguska Meteorite Fragments “Ridiculous,” Scientist Says

May 7, 2013

Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter Last week, Russian researcher Andrei Zlobin announced that stony fragments collected from a riverbed in 1988 are “probably Tunguska meteorites,” and are likely the remains of whatever cosmic object — thought to be either a comet or an asteroid — entered [...]

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Catch Comet Lemmon While You Can

April 29, 2013

If you honed your observing chops on Comet PANSTARRS this spring, consider dropping in on Comet Lemmon, now returning to the dawn sky. Southern hemisphere observers saw this comet at its brightest in March when it briefly became dimly visible with the naked eye. It’s now faded to around magnitude 6, the same as the faintest [...]

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This Weekend’s Lyrid Meteor Shower: How to See It

April 17, 2013

Feeling a little meteor-starved lately? Me too. It’s been a meteor shower desert since the Quadrantids of early January. That’s about to change. This weekend brings the celestial version of April showers with the annual appearance of the Lyrids. Remove this ad

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Keeping up with Comet PANSTARRS through the end of March

March 20, 2013

Wow – what an image! Michael Jaeger’s photo of Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS on March 19 resembles those taken by the orbiting Stereo-B spacecraft. Check out this video (and the one below) to see what I mean. Most  observers using binoculars and telescopes are seeing the comet’s head, bright false nucleus and a single plume-like [...]

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A Guide to Help You See Comet PANSTARRS at its Brightest

March 8, 2013

This is the big week so many of us in the northern hemisphere have been waiting for. Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS, which has put on a splendid show in the southern hemisphere, now finally comes to a sky near us northerners! Sky watchers in Australia and southern South America report it looks like a fuzzy star [...]

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