Jay TateFor 30 years, a large near-Earth asteroid wandered its lone, intrepid path, passing before the scrutinizing eyes of scientists armed with telescopes while keeping something to itself. The object, known as Don Quixote, whose journey stretches to the orbit of Jupiter, now appears to be a comet.
The discovery resulted from an ongoing project coordinated by researchers at Northern Arizona University,
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Jay TateThe Solar System is crowded with small objects like asteroids and comets. Most have stable orbits which keep them out of harm’s way, but a small proportion of them are in orbits that risk them colliding with planets.
The smaller the objects, the more numerous they are, and the more frequent these collisions should occur.
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Jay TateFor the first time, a dramatic global climate shift has been linked to the impact in Quebec of an asteroid or comet, Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues report in a new study. The cataclysmic event wiped out many of the planet’s large mammals and may have prompted humans to start gathering and growing some of their food rather than solely hunting big game.
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Jay TatePlanetary Science Institute researchers have discovered a way to predict the changes in the rotational states of comets that could help scientists learn more about the approaching Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which will pass by the Sun on Thanksgiving Day and has attracted worldwide interest because it may become sufficiently bright to be seen by the naked eye.
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