FREE NEWS: Comet Lemmon visits us about once a millennium, dropping in from far beyond the orbit of Pluto. It hasn’t changed much since it was formed 4.5 billion years ago, so getting a chance to see it is an experience that connects us to the very beginnings of our solar system.
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Welcome to October, the first full month of Autumn. Nights grow significantly longer this month. By the end of October, sunset comes before 6 p.m.! Earlier darkness makes for good evening stargazing, when skies are clear. Nights are colder, but not as frigid as in winter.Â
Welcome to May, our last full month of spring. Nights are getting shorter — by the end of the month, the sun will set just before 9 p.m., and full darkness will not happen until after 11 p.m. But even those twilight evening hours provide plenty to see.
As I write this in mid-July, the big story in the night skies is Comet Neowise. By the time you read this, Neowise will likely be much dimmer …
As I write this in mid-July, the big story in the night skies is Comet Neowise. By the time you read this, Neowise will likely be much dimmer …
As a rule, I don’t go in for Nascar and other macho stuff. Gadgets and gizmos bore me. It’s fine for other people, but I just try not to think about current masculine exemplars, such as long bearded guys in reality shows about duck calls.
BERLIN (AP) — A European probe has begun drilling into a comet to collect scientific data, but mission controllers said Friday that battery issues may make it impossible — at least for now — to access that information.
BERLIN (AP) — Waking up after almost three years of hibernation, a comet-chasing spacecraft sent its first signal back to Earth on Monday, prompting cheers from scientists who hope to use it to land the first space lander onto a comet.
Comet ISON, first spotted by Russian astronomers in September 2012, broke up while passing too near the sun this Thanksgiving. After billions of years of traveling through space, it now consists of little more than scattered dust and rocky debris.
It may be an e-book, but it’s still a page-turner.
