The sun is slowly tearing this comet apart

Using ground-based and space-based observations, a team of researchers has been monitoring a difficult-to-see comet carefully. It's called Comet 323P/SOHO, and it was discovered over 20 years ago in 1999. But it's difficult ...

Okay, new idea: 'Oumuamua is an interstellar 'dust bunny'

Explaining the concept of a dust bunny to small children can be quite amusing. No, it's not actually alive. It's moving around because of really small currents of wind that we can't even see. It's mainly formed out of dead ...

How LISA pathfinder detected dozens of 'comet crumbs'

LISA Pathfinder, a mission led by ESA (the European Space Agency) that included NASA contributions, successfully demonstrated technologies needed to build a future space-based gravitational wave observatory, a tool for detecting ...

Beyond Jupiter, researchers discover a 'cradle of comets'

Comets are known to have a temper. As they swoop in from the outer edges of our solar system, these icy bodies begin spewing gas and dust as they venture closer to the sun. Their luminous outbursts can result in spectacular ...

ESA's new mission to intercept a comet

"Comet Interceptor" has been selected as ESA's new fast-class mission in its Cosmic Vision Programme. Comprising three spacecraft, it will be the first to visit a truly pristine comet or other interstellar object that is ...

Study shows how comets break up, make up

For some comets, breaking up is not that hard to do. A new study led by Purdue University and the University of Colorado Boulder indicates the bodies of some periodic comets - objects that orbit the sun in less than 200 years ...

Rosetta instrument commissioning continues

We're now in week four of six dedicated to commissioning Rosetta's science instruments after the long hibernation period, with the majority now having completed at least a first initial switch on.

Image: Comet Hartley 2 approaches Earth

A pale green interloper among the stars of Cassiopeia, Comet Hartley 2 shines in this four-minute exposure taken on the night of Sept. 28, 2010, by NASA astronomer Bill Cooke.

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