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Top class images help ESA`s Rosetta prepare to ride on a cosmic bullet
Chase a fast-moving comet, land on it and `ride` it while it speeds up towards the Sun: not the script of a science-fiction movie, but the very real task of ESA`s Rosetta spacecraft. New observations with the European Southern Observatory`s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) provide vital information about Comet Wirtanen - Rosetta`s target - to... view more... (2002-02-26)

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)

Evidence for more dust than ice in comets
Observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 made by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft after the Deep Impact collision suggest that comets are 'icy dirtballs', rather than 'dirty snowballs' as previously believed.   view more (2005-10-14)

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)

Hubble zooms in on heart of mystery comet
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has probed the bright core of Comet 17P/Holmes which, to the delight of sky watchers, mysteriously brightened by nearly a million-fold in a 24-hour period beginning October 23, 2007.   view more (2007-11-15)

Comet dust brought back to Earth: paving the way for Rosetta
Scientists around the world eagerly await the arrival of sample particles from Comet Wild 2, which are being brought back to Earth by the US Stardust spacecraft on 15 January this year.   view more (2006-01-13)

ESO`s VLT Helps ESA`s Rosetta Spacecraft Prepare to Ride on a Cosmic Bullet
New Images of Comet Wirtanen`s Nucleus New images of Comet Wirtanen`s 1-km `dirty snowball` nucleus have been obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope at Paranal (Chile). They show this object at a distance of approx. 435 million km from the Sun, about the same as when the Rosetta spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA) arrives in 2011.... view more... (2002-02-26)

'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)

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)

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)

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)

NASA satellite sees solar hurricane detach comet tail
A NASA satellite has captured the first images of a collision between a comet and a solar hurricane. It is the first time scientists have witnessed such an event on another cosmic body.   view more (2007-10-02)

ESA's Rosetta mission: A status report
Following the decision not to launch Europe's comet chaser Rosetta in January, scientists and engineers in the programme have been examining several alternative mission scenarios. Each has been looked at on the basis of the expected scientific return, the technical risks related to using the Rosetta design in the new mission, and the containment... view more... (2003-03-21)

SOHO`s private view of a sunbathing comet
You could see it easily with your unaided eye (but don`t try!) if only Comet Machholz 1 were not so very close to the Sun. This unusual comet, reputed to flare up a lot, is today sweltering only 18 million kilometres from the Sun. This is its closest approach on an orbit that brings it back to the solar vicinity every 63 months. The best and... view more... (2002-01-09)

Rosetta bound for outer Solar System after final Earth swingby
This morning, mission controllers confirmed that ESA's comet chaser Rosetta had swung by Earth at 8:45 CET as planned, skimming past our planet to pick up a gravitational boost for an epic journey to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.   view more (2009-11-16)

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)

MU Scientist Discovers 'Firework' Display in Helix Nebula
A star does not die without getting noticed and may even leave the universe with "fireworks." At the end of its life cycle, a star begins to collapse in the middle and throws new material into space.   view more (2009-07-21)

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)

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)

Stardust parachutes to soft landing in Utah with dust samples from comet
Nearly seven years after setting off in pursuit of comet Wild 2, the Stardust return capsule streaked across the night sky of the Western United States early Sunday, making a soft parachute landing in the Utah desert southwest of Salt Lake City.   view more (2006-01-16)
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