Comets
Astronomers Predict the Orbits of Potentially Hazardous Comets From Meteor Showers
Long-period comets can have orbits that can take hundreds of years before they return to the inner Solar System and…
Good News. Comet Encke Only Threw a Handful of Giant Space Rocks in our Direction
As comets travel along their orbit they dump material along the way. A stream of debris known as the Taurid…
Explaining Different Kinds of Meteor Showers. It’s the Way the Comet Crumbles
The Universe often puts on a good show for us down here on Earth but one of the best spectacles…
More Than Half of Near Earth Objects Could Be “Dark Comets”
Next time you're visiting the seaside or a large lake, or even sipping a frosty glass of water, think about…
A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal
It's been a momentous May for skywatchers around the world. First the big auroral event of May 10-11, next a…
Someone Just Found SOHO's 5,000th Comet
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was designed to examine the Sun, but as a side benefit, it has been…
Comets: Why study them? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has explored the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, and solar physics, and what this…
A Star Passed Through the Oort Cloud Less Than 500,000 Years Ago. It Wasn’t the Only One.
As stars in the Milky Way move through space, some of them have an unexpected effect on the Solar System.…
Some of the Moon's Craters are From Interstellar Impacts. Can We Tell Which?
By discovering two interstellar objects (ISOs), we know that asteroids and comets from other star systems pass through the Solar…
JWST Finds a Comet Still Holding Onto Water in the Main Asteroid Belt
Comets are instantly recognizable by their tails of gas and dust. Most comets originate in the far, frozen reaches of…