One of the many advantages of being in spaceis having a front-row seat to the most anticipated cosmic events.
NASAastronaut Don Pettit,Watch Revenge Ride Online flight engineer for the Expedition 72 crew, proved that when he witnessed Comet ATLAS from the International Space Station, orbiting 250 miles above Earth. The comet, officially known as C/2024 G3, started the week making its closest approach to the sun, and some astronomers are predicting it'll go down as the brightest comet of the year.
Pettit pointed a camera toward one of the space station's windows and caught the comet as it paid the astronauts a visit.
"It is totally amazing to see a comet from orbit," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Right now Comet ATLAS appears in the constellation Sagittarius, and though it may look too close for comfort in Pettit's image, it's actually some 87 million milesfrom Earth. Sunlight tends to wash out such objects as they sidle up to the star, but this one can be viewed at dawn or dusk, its own brightness rivaling that of Venus, according to a NASA post.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit shares a photo of Comet ATLAS that he took from a window of the International Space Station. Credit: Don Pettit / NASA Comets are enormous balls of ice, dust, and rockthat formed in the outer solar system, left over from the early days of planet formation about 4.6 billion years ago. Their ice starts to disintegrate as they get closer to the sun, converting instantly from a solid to a gas, skipping over the liquid phase. That process creates their signature tails, millions-of-miles-long trails of debris.
Hundreds of years ago, people considered comets bad omens. Today, scientists know these icy bodies as time capsules of the ancient solar system. Some astronomers believe comets brought water and organic compounds — aka the building blocks of life— to early Earth.
As 2024 came to a close, the tally of known cometshad risen to about 4,000. Astronomers say countless others are likely orbiting the sun beyond Neptune in a disk known as the Kuiper Belt, or on the outer edge of the solar system, in the so-called Oort Cloud, about 50 times farther from the sun.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit uses a camera on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA The Oort Cloud is thought to be a sphere of ancient, icy objects surrounding the solar system. Comets there are sometimes dislodged by the gravity of another object, redirecting them toward the sun. This distant realm is where astronomers believe Comet ATLAS, discovered last April, originated. If it survives its close encounter with the sun, the comet may return in about 160,000 years.
Catching a glimpse of the comet anywhere north of the equator is extremely challenging, but for the Southern Hemisphere, stargazers may have a chance to see it above the western horizon shortly after sunset. This could continue from mid-January through the rest of the month.
As Comet ATLAS exits the sun's intense glare over the next day or two, it could become easier to spot. Warning: Never stare in the direction of the sunwithout protective eyewear.
"There is hope that Comet ATLAS will survive its close pass near the Sun and remain bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye over the next few days," NASA said.
Topics NASA
What's Thermal Throttling and How to Prevent It
There's a very large animal loose in Alabama, and it's going hog wild
Tesla stans dunk on Porsche Taycan’s slow software update
Rocket League's epic car soccer is going mobile with 'Sideswipe'
Best Samsung deal: Save $60 on 64GB Samsung Galaxy Tab A9
Woody Harrelson resorted to smoking a joint halfway through dinner with Trump
Kevin Spacey officially comes out amid allegations of sexual misconduct
Trump really wants you to believe he came up with 'fake news'
Amazon requires sellers to use more efficient packaging, or pay up
12 people are behind most of the anti
4GHz CPU Battle: AMD 2nd
Amazon warns pet owners against using Amazon Key
Sesame Workshop releases new resources to help families talk to kids about race
David Dobrik steps down from his hyped photo app Dispo amid Vlog Squad allegations
Amazon Book Sale: Shop early deals now
Slack backtracks after 'DM anyone' feature set up users for harassment
People are outraged that Sophia the robot has more rights than most women in Saudi Arabia
Rihanna's latest 'Vogue' cover belongs in a museum, to be honest
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are on sale for $100 off
New Twitter survey asks about how rules should apply to world leaders
11 forgotten anime series from the '90s that still hold up todayWho's the best 'Gilmore Girls' boyfriend?Uber drivers and passengers will have to wear face masks in the U.S.11 forgotten anime series from the '90s that still hold up today'Assassin's Creed Valhalla' revealed as a 9th century Viking adventureThe 11 best video games to play with your significant otherTeens used their AP English exams to completely roast TrumpElon Musk melts down about stayLyft and Uber's pandemicYou can transfer Facebook photos and videos to Google Photos nowThe AI meme generator is better at making memes than humans31 answers to the hardest Star Wars trivia questions in the galaxy'Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian' Ep 1 has a great Dave Filoni storyNetflix's 'Hollywood' is a fairy tale where all the grit is glitterFrance dislikes Trump even more than Putin, so that's reassuringThe 16 most exciting movies and series coming to Netflix this summerThe Office of Government Ethics is now trolling Trump on TwitterThe Apple Watch can actually detect a dangerous heart condition'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' condensed: How to watch the most storyRanking every Pokémon movie The Morning News Roundup for June 10, 2014 Painkillers, God, and America by Jonathan Wilson The Sabbathday Lake Community and Early Shaker Spirituals The Morning News Roundup for June 11, 2014 A Professor’s Strange Quest for Busts of Alexander Pope World Cup 2014 Begins Now Notes on a Successful Book Club by Sadie Stein The Morning News Roundup for May 26, 2014 Recapping Dante: Canto 32, or Area Man Discovers Hell Has Literally Frozen Over by Alexander Aciman Congratulations to Charles Wright, Our Next Poet Laureate Apple updates CarPlay with widgets and Liquid Glass Welcome Our Writer The Poetry of Menu Descriptions Sacred Rites by Sadie Stein Chinghiz Aitmatov and the Literature of Kyrgyzstan Laid Bare by Rowan Ricardo Phillips Morning Roundup of July 17, 2014 The Morning News Roundup for May 29, 2014 More Drunk Texts from Famous Authors The Morning News Roundup for May 27, 2014
2.9118s , 10134.25 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Watch Revenge Ride Online】,Creation Information Network