Comet ISON, which was due to emerge from behind the Sun today, has failed to appear, indicating that the comet has broken up and evaporated during its close encounter with the Sun. Several solar observatories watched the comet throughout this closest approach to the sun, known as perihelion. While the fate of the comet is […]
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Hubble snaps pic of faraway comet ISON
Hubble has given astronomers their clearest view yet of ISON, a newly-discovered sun-grazer comet that could light up the sky later this year. Astronomers are keenly interested in ISON as it offers a rare opportunity to witness a comet’s evolution as it makes its first-ever journey through the inner solar system. ISON, like all comets, […]
Strong evidence for liquid water in comet
The idea that comets are “dirty snowballs” frozen in time looks set for revision now that scientists have found evidence of liquid water in samples of the Wild-2 comet returned to Earth by NASA’s Stardust mission. “Current thinking suggests that it is impossible to form liquid water inside of a comet,” said the University of […]