Comets

Comets are of great interest to scientists as they are remnants of the early Solar System, providing valuable information about its composition and conditions. One of these is the Rare Green Comet ZTF which made its extremely rare approach to Earth just last month. The tech that discovered Comet ZTF was the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in 2022 in March last year.While comets often pass close to Earth, Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is particularly noteworthy because it has a 50000-year orbit, meaning…

French astronomer Charles Messier has been one of the most influential figures in the history of astronomy with major contributions in finding and studying comets, nebulae and more. Although Messier was an avid comet hunter, one of his most amazing discoveries was Messier 1, also known as the Crab Nebula, which he discovered while searching for a comet. According to space.com, Messier discovered a hazy patch in the night sky, which unlike a comet, didn't move. Thus, Messier 1 became one of his first discoveries which…

Although Comets often make trips to Earth, the Comet ZTF which passed Earth last month was an extremely rare sight. It has a period of approximately 50000 years, meaning it was witnessed by Neanderthals the last time it passed by Earth. A comet also orbits the Sun, but unlike an asteroid, it's composed of ice and dust. When a comet gets close to the Sun, its ice and dust content start to vaporize. So, when seen in a telescope, a comet appears fuzzy and has a tail. Now just a month after its passing, it seems like Comet…

A green-hued comet that has been lurking in the night sky for months is expected to be the most visible to stargazers this week as it gradually passes Earth for the first time in about 50,000 years. A green-hued comet that has been lurking in the night sky for months is expected to be the most visible to stargazers this week as it gradually passes Earth for the first time in about 50,000 years.The cosmic visitor will swing by our planet at a distance of about 26.4 million miles (42.5 million km). Here is an explanation…

Nearly a hundred different types of amino acids have been observed in meteorites, but only a dozen of the 20 that are essential for life have been found. Biological amino acids also have a peculiarity that gives them away: They all have a “left-handed” structure, whereas abiotic processes create left- and right-handed molecules in equal measure. Several meteorites discovered on Earth have an excess of left-handed amino acids, Dworkin says—the only non-biological system ever observed with this imbalance. For this…

Deep in the Stone Age, when Neanderthals still lived alongside Homo sapiens, our ancestors might have been agog at a green light in the night sky. Now, that light—C/2022 E3 (ZTF) (more familiarly, the Green Comet)—is back.The Green Comet’s highly elliptical orbit means it will take a long time for it to swing past Earth again—about 50,000 years, to be specific. And that’s if it repeats its 50,000-year sojourn, which it may not.Astronomers discovered the comet in March 2022 using the Samuel Oschin robotic telescope at the…

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 new study by NASA revealed the secret behind the Butterfly Nebula wings. Notably, most nebulae have circular shapes, but this one is different. NASA has shocked and awed the public with astonishing images take of objects found in deep space. Whether these images were of stars, planets, Sun, galaxies, asteroids, comets and other celestial objects, they have been simply breathtaking. Now, NASA has shared an astonishing image of a unique Nebula known as NGC 6302, which looks like the wings of a Butterfly. Yes, you…

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is a mesmerizing picture of a star-forming region which resembles comets, known as Cometary Globules. Cometary Globules are small clouds of gas and dust in the Milky Way Galaxy. What's striking is that these globules have morphology just like comets. They have compact and opaque heads with long and luminous tails. According to NASA, the globules are most likely dense clumps of gas and dust that existed before the hot, massive stars were born. But once the stars began to irradiate and…

Comets, according to current theory, are a bit like cosmic storks that delivered the ingredients from which life could be made to a baby Earth billions of years ago.Now, new research by scientists from the University of Texas, the California Institute of Technology, and Williams College has found that comets might play a similar role in delivering other life-giving compounds to other nearby worlds; in this case forcing reactive chemicals called oxidants through the icy crust and into the oceans of Jupiter's moon…