NASA Stardust spacecraft will meet the comet Temple 1 on Valentines day 2011.
NASA has planned It’s approach to within 200 kilometers to take Its close up images.
Temple 1 was first spotted by Wilhelm Temple back In 1867.
NASA Deep Impact probe smashed Into Temple 1 In July 2005. They then recorded some fantastic Impact Images. Upon Impact the probe managed to create a crater roughly 100 meters long and around 30 meters deep. The destruction of the probe was to gain unique understanding of the Comets make up and composition.
There will be many hazards with the February 14th mission. The tracking and trajectory will have to be very precisely calculated. Timing Is key for the creating the best photos. It should make for spectacular viewing.
Knowing what comets are made of will help determine how best to create a plan of action should a rouge comet or asteroid ever find Itself on an Earth bound trajectory.
We currently have over 200 Asteroids on close trajectory’s for earth. They have been catalogued and are being monitored all the time. Without the technology to stop an Asteroid or comet we wont really stand a chance If one decides to come our way.
Read more:
http://scienceray.com/astronomy/valentines-day-comet-temple-one/#ixzz3cWZghEWQComet ISON, first discovered out beyond the orbit of Jupiter, has people excited. Some are predicting that it may be the brightest comet seen for over a hundred years, however as any astronomer knows, that is a risky claim to make and one that can often turn out to be a gross over-exaggeration. Sometimes comets which promise dazzling displays can fizzle out with little warning – many will recall the relative disappointment of Comet Kohoutek in the 1970s. Comets are quite fragile things, and due to the nature of their composition, the very thing which gives them their beauty – the outgassing of their interiors and stripping of their nuclei by solar radiation – also destroys them. Comet ISON is a sungrazing comet, and as the name implies, it will pass very close to the Sun. This may tear the comet the apart, but if not, we may be treated to a spectacular sight – a comet which, when close to the sun can be seen in the daytime, and when it’s moved into the night time sky may even outshine the Moon.
Comet ISON is already on its way into the inner Solar System, and will be nearing the Sun towards the end of 2013. Let’s hope that it lives up to expectations – it could spark a new wave of interest, not just in comets specifically but in all aspects of the science and beauty of astronomy.
Tell us your thoughts by voting in the poll, and adding your comments below!
Read more:
io9 :
http://io9.com/5976499/once+in+a+century-ison-comet-could-be-visible-from-earth-during-the-daytime Discovery.com :
http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/ison-could-be-dazzling-daytime-comet-130115.htm Phys.org :
http://phys.org/news/2013-01-comet-ison-spectacular.html Space.com :
http://www.space.com/19188-comet-ison-brightest-ever-2013.html Related posts:
Comet Garradd
Astronomy and Space News Roundup: 25th April 2013
Members’ Observations of Comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang), March, April and May, 2002
What’s visible in June 2013?
iPlayer radio programme about Comets
Astronomy and Space News Roundup: 26th April 2013 to 4th May 2013
Comet Lulin imaged by Rob Johnson
What’s visible in February 2013?
What’s visible in May 2013?
Members’ Comet Observations (up to April 1997)
YARPP
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This entry was posted in Comets and tagged Comet C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek), Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) on Thursday, 17th January 2013 by Mark Galvin.
About Mark Galvin
Mark is one of the website administrators for the LAS website, and has a wide spectrum of interest in astronomy and remote imaging, such as weather satellite imagery and UrtheCast.
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