Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

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Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Atheist-Lite » Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:57 pm

http://gizmodo.com/5947845/astronomers- ... irculation

Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us
by Jesus Diaz

The Mayan Apocalypse nutcases will pass out when they learn that two Russian astronomers have discovered a new and gigantic comet coming in our direction—a huge two-mile wide ball of ice and rock that "may [become] one of the brightest in history." The comet is now passing by Saturn, gaining speed and becoming brighter by the day.

The silver surfer was discovered by Russian astronomers Artyom Novichonok and Vitali Nevski, of the International Scientific Optical Network near Kislovodsk, Russia. The sighting has been confirmed by other observatories and the International Astronomical Union. Scientist believe that, given the comet orbit, its origin may be the Oort Cloud, a (theoretical) spherical cloud of comets surrounding the solar system, located almost a light-year from the Sun.

Named 2012 S1, the comet is following a similar orbit to that of the Great Comet of 1680, which is considered one of the greatest sky shows in history. It could become so luminous that, scientists believe, it may get brighter than the full moon.

But don't worry. Like every other recorded comet, this one is not going to kill us, bring the plague or announce the end of the world. In fact, it may kill itself first.

According to astronomers at the Remanzacco Observatory, Italy, 2012 S1 "will get to within 0.012AU of the Sun at the end of November 2013 and then to ~0.4AU from Earth at the beginning of January 2014!" 0.012AU is only 1,115,469 miles, which given the Sun's fiery nature, may be too close for the comet to survive.

If it does, however, then it will be only at 37 million miles from Earth. That's when the show will be the best.

How good? It's hard to predict, but according to astronomer Raminder Singh Samra—of the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada—"if it lives up to expectations, this comet may be one of the brightest in history." Samra says that, at this early stage, the comet is "remarkably bright."

(continued, with a nudge? ) :smoke:
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:15 pm

L8
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Horwood Beer-Master » Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:21 pm

...Like every other recorded comet, this one is not going to kill us, bring the plague or announce the end of the world....
To be on the safe side, we'd better sow Chandra Wickramasinghes mouth shut before he says something stupid about this comet. :bored:
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Mallardz » Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:23 pm

"You would be able to see it with binoculars around August 2013. By late October, it will be visible to the naked eye."

I will acquire me some binoculars so I can see it first.
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Pappa » Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:35 pm

Better get the telescope out then. :mrgreen:

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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:39 pm

Pappa wrote:Better get the telescope out then. :mrgreen:
We should have a Ratz shutterbug contest to see who gets the best images. :plot:
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Animavore » Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:41 pm

Crumble, have you ever watched Melancholia? You'd love it.
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Atheist-Lite » Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:20 pm

It is the sort of news to bring out the ol' crumple I guess? :crumple:
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Rum » Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:36 pm

Some other time, OK? You are doing so well....

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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Atheist-Lite » Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:18 pm

Rum wrote:Some other time, OK? You are doing so well....
2014 is fine by me, just gotta nudge it a couple of centimetres right now.... :tup:
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by That Alien Guy. » Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:16 pm

Comets used to be much more common before intergalactic cruisers installed excrement recyclers. It was roughly 60 million tonnes of super condensed frozen Brofig shit that killed the dinosaurs.

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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by FBM » Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:15 pm

Pappa wrote:Better get the telescope out then. :mrgreen:
And I'd better practice up on taking pics with the one I got from rachel. :{D
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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by Blind groper » Tue Oct 02, 2012 5:58 am

A few years back, we had Comet McNaught in our skies. I do not think you Northern hemisphere types got such a good look. I went out at dusk to climb a hill with a great view of the western horizon and waited while the sun went down. As it got darker, it was like an old video of a black and white photo developing. This enormous sheet of milky white slowly appeared across a quarter of the hemisphere. Dramatic beyond words.

This photo is not mine. I hope the new comet is as good.


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Re: Astronomers Discover Huge Comet Hurtling Towards Us

Post by FBM » Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:40 am

Damn! No joke!
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

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