Comets
Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. When a comet's orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from the Sun for millions of miles. There are likely billions of comets orbiting our Sun in the Kuiper Belt and even more distant Oort Cloud.
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ALPO Comet News for January 2025
1/7/2025
C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is on pace to be the best comet in 2025 as it nears a January 13 perihelion at 0.094 au from the Sun. The comet has been brightening at a nice clip throughout December and early January. Just after New Year’s, ATLAS experienced a two-magnitude outburst from magnitude 4 to 2. While outbursts for comets with small perihelion distances can be a sign of trouble, ATLAS continues to brighten and is currently around magnitude 1.
ATLAS should only be observable from the southern hemisphere. Still, if it continues to brighten at its current rate, it may reach magnitude -4 to -6 and could be observable from the northern hemisphere, rising 30-40 minutes before the Sun on the mornings of January 11-12. After perihelion, northern observers might again catch sight of the comet setting 30-40 minutes after the Sun on the evenings of January 13-16. Southern hemisphere observers will have a better view of the comet, especially as it enters a dark sky a week after perihelion. However, it should have faded to 0th to 1st magnitude by then.
Unfortunately, no ALPO Comet News will be issued for January 2025.
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Meteors Shed Light on Comet Composition
8/22/2024

Physics.org logo In a study recently published in Icarus, researchers using visual and video observations of 47 young meteor showers have found differences in the sizes of meteoroids produced by short-period and long-period comets. The difference in meteoroid sizes may be a relic of the conditions in the early solar system when these objects formed. Jupiter-family comets usually crumble into smaller, denser meteoroids, whereas long-period (Oort Cloud) comets often crumble into sizes indicative of gentle accretion conditions.

 


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Comet's impact triggered downfall of ancient Hopewell?
2/1/2022

The rapid decline of the Hopewell culture about 1,500 years ago might be explained by falling debris from a near-Earth comet that created a devastating explosion over North America, laying waste to forests and Native American villages alike. Researchers found evidence of a cosmic airburst at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites in three states stretching across the Ohio River Valley.


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New comet C/2021 O3 Might Brighten in May 2022
1/20/2022

A comet discovered last July is approaching the inner solar system and might reach binocular visibility (at least) by late April and early May 2022. It’s designated C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) and appears to be “new” to the inner solar system, a first-time visitor. If it survives its April 2022 passage near our star, the comet might become visible to amateur stargazers armed with binoculars in May. At that time, it’ll be in front of the constellation Perseus the Hero, close to the northwestern horizon after sunset.


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