Comets
When Comets Break Up, the Fragments Can Be Devastating If They Hit the Earth
Comet breakups are a timely topic right now. The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov just broke into at least two pieces. And…
Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Appears to Have Broken in Half
In 2019, amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov discovered a comet, which now bears his name. There's a long history of amateur…
Rosetta Saw the Building Blocks of Life on Comet 67P
Why is there so little nitrogen in Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P)? That's a question scientists asked themselves when they looked at…
NASA’s TESS Watched an Outburst from Comet 46P/Wirtanen
TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, has imaged an outburst from the comet 46P/Wirtanen. It caught the outburst in what…
Interstellar Comet Borisov is About to Make its Closest Approach to Earth
A team of astronomers from Yale have taken the clearest picture of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov to date, showcasing its…
Comets and Interstellar Objects Could be Exporting Earth Life Out into the Milky Way
A new study suggests that comets and asteroids that graze Earth's atmosphere might be responsible for the spread of life…
Here’s the Picture We’ve Been Waiting for. Hubble’s Photo of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
Leave it up to the good ole Hubble Space Telescope. The workhorse telescope has given us a photo of the…
Astronomers Find Cyanide Gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov, but Don’t Panic Like it’s 1910
An international team of astronomers recently obtained spectra from the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, which confirmed the presence of cyanide gas.
Rosetta Saw Collapsing Cliffs and Other Changes on 67P During its Mission
It seems that comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is not the stoic, unchanging Solar System traveller that it might seem to be. Scientists…
Could We Intercept Interstellar Comet C/2019 Q4 Borisov?
A recent study by members of i4is shows how we could intercept future interstellar visitors using existing technology.