comets

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Scientists Do 180 Away From 'Weird' Theories on 'Oumuamua

They're going back to positing that interstellar visitor was a comet, albeit with gas, dust trapped

(Newser) - Was it an asteroid , a comet , a chunk of a distant planet , or an alien artifact ? All of these possibilities have been floated since the mysterious 'Oumuamua, our first known interstellar visitor, sped through our solar system in 2017. A 2021 study suggested what was previously thought to...

It'll Be Years Before You See Another Comet Like This One

Green comet C/2022 E3 will be best spotted as it passes by Earth this week

(Newser) - A green comet is passing by Earth for the first time since Neanderthals walked the planet and could be spotted by the naked eye. Believed to have been born in the farthest reaches of the solar system in an icy world dubbed the Oort cloud, C/2022 E3 is thought to...

Scientists Confirm What's at Heart of This Comet Is Huge

Nucleus of C/2014 UN271 is around 80 miles across and 'blacker than coal'

(Newser) - The biggest comet nucleus ever detected is wider than New Jersey and is hurtling through space at 22,000mph, NASA says. Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed that the nucleus of Comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is 50 times larger than what is at the heart of most comets,...

Dinosaur Killer Gets a New Origin Story
Scientists Offer New Theory
on Dinosaurs' Demise
in case you missed it
Feb 20, 2021 7:00 AM CST

Scientists Offer New Theory on Dinosaurs' Demise

Think speedy, long-range comet, not an asteroid from closer to Earth

(Newser) - From the dinosaurs' perspective, not much has changed. Scientists still think an enormous chunk of rock slammed into Earth and triggered a cataclysmic explosion that wiped them out. However, a new study out of Harvard changes the theory about the origins of that space rock, reports NPR . The researchers say...

40-Year-Old Signal From Space Is Finally Explained
40-Year-Old Signal From
Space Is Finally Explained
in case you missed it
Jun 10, 2017 11:30 AM CDT

40-Year-Old Signal From Space Is Finally Explained

Astronomer says it was 'a natural phenomenon,' not aliens

(Newser) - In 1977, a radio telescope recorded a 72-second signal coming from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. Stunned, the astronomer who observed it wrote "Wow!" on the readout. Since it couldn't be explained, plenty argued the signal was proof of life beyond our planet. After 40 years,...

Comets Likely Smell Awful
 Comets Likely 
 Smell Awful 
Oct 23, 2014 3:00 PM CDT

Comets Likely Smell Awful

Imagine rotten eggs, horse urine, alcohol, and vinegar, all mixed together

(Newser) - Comets stink, and not just because they have the potential to cause cataclysmic devastation if they ever came hurtling through our atmosphere and made impact with Earth. These "cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust roughly the size of a small town" (as described by NASA ) literally...

Water on Earth Older Than Sun, Earth Itself

Water molecules more than 4.5 billion years old are in our drinking water, oceans

(Newser) - If you live and die by food and beverage expiration dates, you might not want to know how old some of our drinking water is. A study finds that 30% to 50% of the water found in our taps and oceans contains molecules created more than 4.5 billion years...

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