Comets
Latest about Comets
Get ready for the 'New Year Comet': What to expect from Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3
By Jamie Carter published
Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3 could be set to wow sky-watchers at the beginning of 2025.
Astronomers discover 7 new 'dark comets,' but what exactly are they?
By Keith Cooper published
By doubling the number of known "dark comets," astronomers have been able to split them into two camps depending on their location in the solar system.
'Crumb trails' of meteoroids could reveal potentially dangerous comets years before they reach Earth
By Abha Jain published
Potentially dangerous comets could be spotted many years in advance by following the meteoroid trails they leave near Earth, new research shows.
Mysterious, city-size 'centaur' comet gets 300 times brighter after quadruple cold-volcanic eruption
By Harry Baker published
The cryovolcanic "centaur" comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann has erupted four times in less than 48 hours, becoming unusually bright in the process. It is the most powerful outburst from the city-size oddball in more than three years.
How comet Hale-Bopp can reveal the origins of life on Earth — and maybe beyond
By Victoria Corless published
Scientists are tracking the evolution of comet Hale-Bopp, one of the brightest comets ever seen.
Astrophotographer captures comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS growing an anti-tail (photos)
By Miguel Claro published
Astrophotographer Miguel Claro captured Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from the Dark Sky Alqueva reserve in Portugal on Oct. 13, 2024 as the comet was displaying an 'anti-tail.'
Watch the 'Halloween comet' ATLAS burn up as it flies into the sun (video)
By Brett Tingley published
Watch Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) make a death dive into the sun today (Oct. 28) in this eerie footage from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.
Headless 'Halloween comet' could already be doomed
By Joe Rao published
While some are hoping for a bright "Halloween comet," astronomers say the speeding cosmic snowball has likely already broken apart.
See the 'comet of the century' light up the night sky in breathtaking photos
By Brett Tingley published
Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS proved to be photogenic as it lit up the early autumn skies of the Northern Hemisphere this month.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a Halloween visitor from the spooky Oort Cloud − the invisible bubble that's home to countless space objects
By James Wray published
The cloud is basically a gigantic reservoir that may hold billions of icy celestial bodies. Two of those bodies will pass by Earth in the days leading up to Halloween.
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