Did comets flood Earth's oceans?
Did the Earth form with water locked into its rocks, which then gradually leaked out over millions of years? Or did the occasional impacting comet provide the Earth's oceans? The Ptolemy experiment on Rosetta may just find out"¦ The Earth needed a supply of water for its oceans, and the comets are large celestial icebergs - frozen... view more... (2004-06-16)
U of M physicist reads the history of the solar system in grains of comet dust
Four years ago, NASA's Stardust spacecraft chased down a comet and collected grains of dust blowing off its nucleus. When the spacecraft Comet Wild-2 returned, comet dust was shipped to scientists all over the world, including University of Minnesota physics professor Bob Pepin. view more (2008-01-04)
UW astronomer hits cosmic paydirt with Stardust
Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were excited and awed Tuesday by what they saw when the sample-return canister from the Stardust spacecraft was opened. view more (2006-01-19)
NASA's Swift Spies Comet Lulin
While waiting for high-energy outbursts and cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite is monitoring Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth. For the first time, astronomers are seeing simultaneous ultraviolet and X-ray images of a comet. view more (2009-02-23)
Timing is critical as launch windows approach
There will be greater tension than usual among engineers and scientists at Europe`s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, in January 2003, as they gather to see ESA`s comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta departing on its long journey. If it is to keep its rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen in 2012, Rosetta must lift off on its Ariane-5 launcher no sooner... view more... (2002-09-05)
Challenges of landing on alien worlds
Three ESA missions are due to send down robotic `spaceprobes` when they arrive at their alien destinations. Since these craft will be going where no one has gone before, how can scientists be sure what it will be like down there? How do you ensure that your spaceprobe is prepared for anything? Experts take every precaution to ensure that these... view more... (2002-10-10)
NRL Instrument on NASA Satellite Sees Solar Hurricane Detach Comet Tail
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory report they have captured the first images of a collision between a comet and a solar hurricane. view more (2007-10-03)
Comet from coldest spot in solar system has material from hottest places
Scientists analyzing recent samples of comet dust have discovered minerals that formed near the sun or other stars. That means materials from the innermost part of the solar system could have traveled to the outer reaches, where comets formed. view more (2006-03-14)
UK scientists all set for New Year encounter with a comet
On January 2nd 2004 the NASA space mission, STARDUST, will fly through comet Wild 2, capturing interstellar particles and dust and returning them to Earth in 2006. Space scientists from the Open University and University of Kent have developed one of the instruments which will help tell us more about comets and the evolution of our own solar... view more... (2003-12-16)
NASA's Deep Impact Craft Observes Major Comet 'Outburst'
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft observed a massive, short-lived outburst of ice or other particles from comet Tempel 1 that temporarily expanded the size and reflectivity of the cloud of dust and gas (coma) that surrounds the comet nucleus. view more (2005-06-29)
Hubble provides spectacular view of ongoing comet breakup
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is providing astronomers with extraordinary views of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 as it disintegrates before our eyes. view more (2006-04-28)
'Ultra-primitive' particles found in comet dust
Dust samples collected by high-flying aircraft in the upper atmosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relicts from the ancient cosmos, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution. view more (2009-11-03)
Unlocking the frozen secrets of comet Wild 2
Eleven months ago, NASA's Stardust mission touched down in the Utah desert with the first solid comet samples ever retrieved from space. Since then, nearly 200 scientists from around the globe have studied the minuscule grains, looking for clues to the physical and chemical history of our solar system. view more (2006-12-20)
Are comets at the origin of life on earth ?
For over 60 years now, the University of Liege Astrophysics and Geophysics Institute (IAGL) has been concerned with the study of comets. Again today, four of its researchers have just made a major discovery for the understanding of these celestial objects : a lot of extra heavy nitrogen detected in two comets suggests the presence of great... view more... (2003-09-11)
Chance encounter with comet nets surprising results
Comets are made of the most primitive stuff in the solar system. As hunks of rock and ice that never coalesced into more planets, they give researchers clues to the evolution of solar systems. view more (2007-10-02)
Earth and Moon through Rosetta's eyes
ESA's comet chaser mission Rosetta took these infrared and visible images of Earth and the Moon, during the Earth fly-by of 4/5 March 2005 while on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. These images, now processed, are part of the first scientific data obtained by Rosetta. "The Earth fly-by represented the first real chance to... view more... (2005-05-03)
NASA Researchers Make First Discovery of Life's Building Block in Comet
NASA scientists have discovered glycine, a fundamental building block of life, in samples of comet Wild 2 returned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft. view more (2009-08-18)
Charcoal evidence tracks climate changes in Younger Dryas
A new study reports that charcoal particles left by wildfires in sediments of 35 North American lake beds don't readily support the theory that comets exploding over the continent 12,900 years ago sparked a cooling period known as the Younger Dryas. view more (2009-01-29)
Ghosts found in space
For Halloween this year, watch out for some real ghosts cruising through space, destined never to `cross over` to the other side. These ghosts are scientific satellites that have reached the end of their mission and experts have turned off all their instruments. Other satellites cross over into the Earth`s atmosphere to be burned up on reentry,... view more... (2002-10-31)
XMM-Newton spots the greatest of great balls of fire
Thanks to data from ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray satellite, a team of international scientists found a comet-like ball of gas over a thousand million times the mass of the sun hurling through a distant galaxy cluster over 750 kilometres per second. view more (2006-06-13)
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