Comet tail

The solar system has eight planets. But it wasn't always the case. In 1930, when Pluto was first discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, it was considered the ninth planet of the solar system. In fact, it continued to be known as a planet till 2006 when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the definition of a planet and reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet". While astronomers found an agreement over Pluto, it didn't last long. In recent years, questions have been raised on classification of…

A gigantic comet, believed to be interstellar in nature and is going to get extremely close to the Sun. Know whether this alien space rock can survive or not. Right now, comets are dominating the astronomy world. While the rare green comet is making its closest approach to the Earth today, February 1, another gigantic comet is headed for the Sun. Known as Comet 96P/Machholz, this comet is set to get three times closer to the Sun than Mercury, the closest planet to it. The comet appears to have an origin outside of our…

Days after the uncommon green comet Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) made its closest approach to the Sun, scientists noticed something out of the ordinary. It is expected that the uncommon green comet will be seen to the naked eye sometime in the first week of February as it makes its approach nearer Earth. Something strange is occurring to the comet's tail, and astronomers have discovered it is getting separated. It's separating now. Photographed by Austrian astronomer Michael Jaeger on January 17, the comet seemed to…

The Didymos-Dimorphos system, seen as a single object, has sprouted two tails, a new Hubble image reveals. DART smashed into Dimorphos at the 10 o’clock direction. Image: NASA, ESA, Jian-Yang Li (PSI), Joe Depasquale (STScI)A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a pair of dusty tails extending out from Didymos-Dimorphos, the result of NASA’s DART spacecraft smashing into the smaller member of the binary asteroid system.One tail, sure. But two? That’s undeniably weird, and also awesome. The European Space Agency…