OnceInALifetime

Some sky watchers this month will witness Betelgeuse, one of the brightest and best-known stars in the sky, nearly disappear. Mere seconds later—despite astronomers’ hopes that the star will meet its explosive end someday soon—it will return, shining just as brightly as ever.Betelgeuse’s brief blip of obscurity will mark a cosmic coincidence: an asteroid will block the star from view over a thin strip of Earth’s surface. Scientists are hailing this celestial alignment as a once-in-a-lifetime occasion that, they hope, will…

Researchers and volunteers with the Florida Museum of Natural History have discovered the ancient remains of several gomphotheres at a fossil site in North Florida. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen GraceApproximately five and a half million years ago, a number of gomphotheres, now-extinct relatives of elephants, met their end in or near a river in Northern Florida. Even though their demise probably transpired centuries apart, their remains were all deposited in a single location, entombed alongside other animals…

Comet C/2022 E3: A once-in-a-lifetime spectacle; see the glowing green comet pass Earth next weekNext week will bring a rare and a magnificent sight to the skies as a glowing comet makes its way back to our planet after a 50,000-year gap. On Wednesday and Thursday, the comet C/2022 E3 will pass our planet at a distance of barely 27 million miles. For stargazers, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness this exceptional event as this will be the comet's closest approach to Earth in 50,000 years. The…

Space enthusiasts will soon get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a stunning comet as it zooms past Earth later this month. The E3 comet — officially known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF) — was first discovered in March of 2022. The comet is what astronomers call a long-period comet. This label is applied whenever a comet’s orbit takes longer than 200 years. Because its orbit is expected to take tens of thousands of years to complete its orbit, some astronomers told Newsweek that it could take as long as 50,000 years to…

A comet that was only just discovered in the past year will approach Earth where it may be possible to see with the naked eye as soon as later this month. And you might want to go out and look for it, as experts say the comet isn't likely to return to Earth's orbit for at least another 50,000 years.The comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), was first seen in March 2022 via a huge telescope when it passed through Jupiter's orbit. The comet is referred to as the E3 Comet--though it has nothing to do with the big game show…