When the comet flies past the earth. Comets you can see with the naked eye: NASA video. Solar and lunar eclipse
Comets are one of the most mysterious celestial bodies that appear in the sky every now and then. Today, scientists believe that comets are by-product left over from the formation of stars and planets billions of years ago. They consist of a core various kinds ice (frozen water, carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane mixed with dust) and a large cloud of gas and dust surrounding the core, often referred to as "coma". Today, more than 5260 of them are known. The brightest and most impressive ones are collected here.
Great Comet of 1680
This magnificent comet, discovered by the German astronomer Gottfried Kirch on November 14, 1680, became one of the brightest comets of the seventeenth century. She was remembered for being visible even in the daytime, as well as for her spectacular long tail.
Mrkos (1957)
Comet Mrkos was photographed by Alan McClure on August 13, 1957. The photo made a big impression on astronomers, since for the first time a double tail was seen on a comet: a straight ion tail and a curved dust tail (both tails are directed in opposite side from the sun).
De Cock-Paraskevopoulos (1941)
This strange but beautiful comet is best remembered for its long but faint tail, and for being visible at dawn and dusk. So strange name The comet received because it was simultaneously discovered by an amateur astronomer named De Kock and the Greek astronomer John S. Paraskevopoulos.
Skjellerup - Maristani (1927)
Comet Skjellerup-Maristani was a long-period comet whose brightness suddenly increased greatly in 1927. It could be observed with the naked eye for about thirty-two days.
Mellish (1917)
Mellish is a periodic comet that has been observed mainly in the southern hemisphere. Many astronomers believe that Mellish will return to the earth's sky again in 2061.
Brooks (1911)
This bright comet was discovered in July 1911 by astronomer William Robert Brooks. She was remembered for her unusual blue color, which was the result of the emission of carbon monoxide ions.
Daniel (1907)
Comet Daniel was one of the most famous and widely observed comets of the early twentieth century.
Lovejoy (2011)
Comet Lovejoy is a periodic comet that comes extremely close to the sun at perihelion. It was discovered in November 2011 by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy.
Bennet (1970)
The next comet was discovered by John Caister Bennett on December 28, 1969, when it was at a distance of two astronomical units from the Sun. It was notable for its radiant tail, consisting of plasma compressed into filaments by the action of magnetic and electric fields.
Seki Lines (1962)
Initially visible only in the southern hemisphere, the Seki Lines became one of the brightest objects in the night sky on April 1, 1962.
Arend-Roland (1956)
Visible only in the southern hemisphere during the first half of April 1956, Comet Arend-Roland was first observed on November 8, 1956 by Belgian astronomers Sylvain Arend and Georges Roland in photographic images.
Eclipse (1948)
Eclipse is an exceptionally bright comet that was discovered during solar eclipse November 1, 1948.
Viscara (1901)
The large comet of 1901, sometimes called Comet Viscar, became visible to the naked eye on April 12. It was visible as a second magnitude star with a short tail.
McNaught (2007)
Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007, is a periodic celestial body discovered on August 7, 2006 by British-Australian astronomer Robert McNaught. It was the brightest comet in the past forty years and was clearly visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere in January and February 2007.
Hyakutake (1996)
Comet Hyakutake was discovered on January 31, 1996, during its closest passage to Earth. It was named the "Big Comet of 1996" and is remembered for being the celestial body that approached the Earth at the minimum distance in the last two hundred years.
Vesta (1976)
Comet West was arguably the most spectacular and attention-grabbing comet of the last century. She was visible to the naked eye, and her two huge tails stretched across the sky.
Ikeya-Seki (1965)
Also known as the "Great Comet of the Twentieth Century", Ikeya-Seki was the brightest comet of the last century and appeared even brighter than the Sun in daylight. According to Japanese observers, it was about ten times brighter than the full moon.
Halley's Comet (1910)
Despite the appearance of much brighter long-period comets, Halley is the brightest short-period (it returns to the Sun every 76 years) comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye.
Great Southern Comet (1947)
In December 1947, a huge comet was seen near the setting sun, the brightest in decades (since Halley's comet in 1910).
Every year on August 12, meteorites rapidly trace the sky with bright fiery streaks all night long, burning up in the middle layers of the atmosphere. This fiery performance is called the Perseus meteor shower. Moving in orbit, the Earth crosses the meteor shower - the plume of a comet making its way around the Sun.
What are comets?
Comets, like stone asteroids, are, so to speak, waste products after the formation of the Sun, planets and their satellites. Comets are composed mostly of ice with inclusions of small rocks and dust. For most of their lives, comets graze on vast desert pastures at the periphery of the solar system.
The most distant planet in the solar system, Pluto, is located at a distance of 5.8 billion kilometers from the Sun. A cluster of comets called the Kuiper Belt is located 480 million kilometers further than Pluto. Another similar cluster - the Oort Cloud - is 160 billion kilometers away from the Sun. In fact, the Oort Cloud is not a cloud, but a huge cluster of trillions of comets, these comets roam the universe in different directions, like cows in a grazing herd. It is believed that the Oort Cloud surrounds the solar system as a huge halo.
Interesting fact: Comets make one revolution around the Sun every one million years on average.
Evidence for cometary clusters
Proving the existence of cometary clusters is very difficult. And that's why. Even if you fly in a rocket through the Oort Cloud, you can not meet a single comet during the trip. They are separated by a distance of millions and billions of kilometers. Since comets are far from the Sun, they are very weakly lit and look almost as dark as the outer space surrounding them. Comets far from the Sun do not have tails attributed to them. Their color is red - brown, the size is about two kilometers. In a word, they look like big dirty icebergs.
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Interesting facts about space
Travel of comets
The ugly face of the comet is transformed when it leaves the herd and approaches the Sun. At this moment, the comet undergoes an instantaneous transformation. It stretches across the night sky in a long shining strip, bringing people to horror and delight. What force drives a comet out of the Oort Cloud? Naturally, gravity. Here's how it happens. The sun is rapidly flying in space and dragging behind it a bunch of planets, their satellites and comets. The path of the Sun lies among the stars of the Milky Way. A herd of comets carried by the Sun sometimes passes close to another star. The force of its gravity produces a disturbance in the Oort Cloud, shifting comets from their usual positions.
I bring to your attention a review of the visibility of comets for 2018. The table lists all comets that, at the peak of their brightness, will be brighter than magnitude 14 and, accordingly, can be accessible to astronomy lovers. First general table -
All comets brighter than 14th magnitude that will be observed in 2018.
Comets are given in the order in which they pass the perihelion point. The table gives: Designation, Tperig.- the moment of the comet's passage of perihelion in Moscow, q- perihelion distance in astronomical units, P- period of revolution in years for short-period comets, M max- maximum brightness in this appearance and Current state comet case (observed/not yet found in this occurrence).
| Designation | Tperig. | q | P | M max | Observations |
| 185P/Petru | January 27, 2018 | 0.934 | 5.46 | 11.5 | Observed |
| C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) | February 19, 2018 | 3.730 | 12.5 | Observed | |
| February 21, 2018 | 0.581 | 9.3 | Observed | ||
| 169P/NEAT | April 29, 2018 | 0.604 | 4.20 | 12.5 | Observed |
| 37P/Forbes | May 4, 2018 | 1.610 | 6.43 | 11.5 | Observed |
| May 9, 2018 | 2.602 | >18.9 thousand | 10.4 | Observed | |
| 66P/Du Toit | May 19, 2018 | 1.289 | 14.88 | 10.4 | Observed |
| 364P/PANSTARRS | June 24, 2018 | 0.798 | 4.88 | 11.0 | Observed |
| C/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS) | July 18, 2018 | 2.669 | >76 thousand | 12 | Observed |
| C/2017 T3 (ATLAS) | July 19, 2018 | 0.825 | 8.7 | Observed | |
| August 2, 2018 | 1.308 | 9.0 | Observed | ||
| August 10, 2018 | 2.211 | >89 thousand | 8.4 | Observed | |
| 48P/Johnson | August 12, 2018 | 2.005 | 6.55 | 12.2 | Observed |
| August 16, 2018 | 0.208 | 7.0 | Observed | ||
| September 10, 2018 | 1.015 | 6.56 | 7.0 | Observed | |
| November 4, 2018 | 1.393 | 9.41 | 8.9 | Observed | |
| November 11, 2018 | 1.588 | 37.91 | 9.6 | Observed | |
| December 2, 2018 | 1.712 | 3900 | 9.6 | Observed | |
| December 3, 2018 | 0.387 | 7.5 | Observed | ||
| December 13, 2018 | 1.055 | 5.43 | 4 | Observed |
Now more about the visibility of each of the comets in our list:
- Periodic comet 185P/Petru observed in its fourth appearance since its discovery in 2001. In the appearance of 2018, it reached magnitude 11.5 at its maximum brightness in the first half of February. The comet was observed in the evening hours, not very high above the horizon in the west. 185P/Petru moved through the constellations of Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Whale, again Pisces, again Whale.
- Comet C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS), discovered by the PANSTARRS sky survey at the end of July 2015, reached its maximum brightness (12.5 magnitude) at the end of March - beginning of April. The comet could be observed throughout the night high above the horizon, but by morning it rose almost to the zenith. C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) moved at maximum brightness through the constellations of Hercules, Bootes and Ursa Major.
- Comet C/2017 T1 (Heinze) at its maximum brightness in early January 2018, it reached magnitude 9.3. It was visible in small devices in mid-latitudes from the end of December 2017 to March 2018. The heavenly guest moved through the constellations of Cancer, Lynx, Giraffe, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Lizard, Pegasus and Aquarius. The comet was visible at the beginning of the year throughout the night, then in early February in the evening and in the morning, and from the end of February in the morning before sunrise.
Scheme of the path C / 2017 T1 (Heinze) in the period of visibility into small devices -
A near-solar giant comet, which received the designation C / 2017 S3 in astronomical catalogs, will fly up to the Earth at a minimum distance. The celestial body, which is twice the size of Jupiter and is also known as the "Incredible Hulk" because of its specific green radiance, will approach Earth at a distance of 112 million km.
Already on August 7, the comet can be seen with 10x binoculars in the sky of the northern hemisphere in the constellation of Cancer. On August 16, the celestial body will circle the Sun and again head towards the outskirts of the solar system, according to the Internet portal Space.com.
We add that for the first time scientists saw this comet in December 2017 during observations from a telescope installed on Mount Haleakala (Hawaii). In late June and mid-July, astronomers recorded two powerful ejections of gases from the comet's head. Such outbursts are common in comets, but the exact cause has not been determined.
Russian astronomers spotted a green comet
Russian astronomers have warned of the discovery of a green comet that received official name PanSTARRS (C/2017 S3). unofficial name- The Incredible Hulk. According to astronomers, the comet will reach the nearest point on Earth on August 7th.
This was announced by a veteran of the Khrunichev space center, a researcher of comets and meteorites Yevgeny Dmitriev.
“The size of the gas and dust cloud of a celestial body is at least twice the size of the big planet The solar system - Jupiter," Dmitriev said in an interview with Izvestia.
According to the Russian researcher, the comet will pass at a distance of 113.4 million kilometers from Earth. However, the giant cloud space dust could potentially cause electromagnetic oscillations in the Earth's atmosphere, threatening vital processes.
“When the Earth passes through the gas and dust environment of a bright comet, a giant lightning may appear, generating a powerful cometary electromagnetic pulse, which can be detrimental to civilization,” Dmitriev said.
Today, the Green Hulk comet will sweep over the Earth, which still did not break up in space
On Tuesday, August 7, comet C/2017 S3, known as the Green Hulk, will pass at a distance of 112 million km from Earth. This is equal to 291 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon, but by cosmic standards it is considered very close.
The comet will be visible in the northern part of the sky with 10x binoculars. She is surrounded by a huge green gas cloud, hence the comparison to the Hulk.
On August 16, the comet will approach the Sun, circle it and begin to move away from the solar system.
Hypotheses for the origin of comets
During the foreseeable past of mankind, many comets have been discovered. At the beginning of a serious study of comets, no one thought that they belonged to the solar system.
Previously, it was assumed that the mysterious celestial wanderers come to us from the distant, unknown depths of interstellar space. They approach the Sun at a distance of several tens or hundreds of millions of kilometers and then set off on their return journey. At the same time, the farther the comets went from the Sun, the stronger their brightness weakened, until it completely disappeared. Most astronomers in the past assumed that each comet came to the Sun only once and then left its vicinity forever.
However, this idea did not take hold immediately. Even Aristotle, a powerful authority among the scientific world, thinking about the nature of comets, put forward the hypothesis that comets are of terrestrial origin. They are allegedly generated in the Earth's atmosphere, "hang" at a relatively low altitude, slowly floating across the sky.
It is surprising that the point of view of Aristotle dominated for about two millennia, and no attempts to shake it gave a positive result - the Roman scientist Seneca tried to refute the teachings of Aristotle, he wrote that “the comet has its own place between celestial bodies..., it describes its path and does not go out, but only moves away. But his astute assumptions were considered reckless, since Aristotle's authority was too high. And only at the end of the XVI century the idea of Aristotle was refuted.
At the end of the 16th century, astronomers, including T. Brahe, observed a bright comet from two observation points very distant from each other. If the comet were in the atmosphere, i.e., not far from observers, then parallax should be observed: from one point the comet should be visible against the background of some stars, and from another - against the background of others. However, observations showed that there was no parallax, and, therefore, the comet was much further than the Moon. The terrestrial nature of comets has been disproved, making them even more mysterious. One mystery was replaced by another, even more tempting and inaccessible.
Many astronomers have the opinion that comets come to us from interstellar depths, that is, they are not members of the solar system. At some point, it was even assumed that comets come to the Sun along rectilinear trajectories and leave it along the same rectilinear trajectories.
It is difficult to say how long this situation would have lasted if not for one major event in the history of mankind.
The brilliant naturalist, the great physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton completed an outstanding treatise, associated with the analysis of the motion of planets around the Sun, and formulated the law gravity: The force of mutual attraction between two bodies is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distances between them. According to this law of nature, all the planets move around the Sun not in an arbitrary way, but strictly in certain orbits. These orbits are closed lines.
There is an assumption that cometary nuclei formed at the same time from all over the world. solar system and therefore can be samples of that primary substance from which the planets and their satellites subsequently formed. The nuclei could retain their original properties due to their “permanent place” away from the Sun and major planets that have a huge impact on the immediate environment.
There are hypotheses about the capture of comets from interstellar space and their volcanic origin. However, in 1950 they were strongly pressed by one old idea in a new design.
Back in 1932, one of the prominent astronomers, Ernst Epik, expressed the idea of a possible concentration of a large number of clouds of cometary and meteorite bodies, "obeying" the Sun, despite the fact that they were located at a distance of four light days from it.
In 2009, Robert McNaught opened Comet C/2009 R1, which is approaching the Earth, and in mid-June 2010, the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere will be able to see it with the naked eye.
Comet Morehouse(C / 1908 R1) - a comet discovered in the USA in 1908, which was the first of the comets to be actively studied using photography. Amazing changes were seen in the structure of the tail. During the day of September 30, 1908, these changes occurred continuously. On October 1, the tail broke off and could no longer be observed visually, although a photograph taken on October 2 showed three tails. The rupture and subsequent growth of the tails occurred repeatedly.
Comet Tebbutt(C/1861 J1) - A bright comet visible to the naked eye was discovered by an Australian amateur astronomer in 1861. The Earth passed through the comet's tail on June 30, 1861.
Comet Hyakutake(C/1996 B2) is a large comet that reached magnitude zero in March 1996 and produced a tail estimated to be at least 7 degrees long. Its apparent brightness is largely due to its proximity to the Earth - the comet passed from it at a distance of less than 15 million km. The maximum approach to the Sun is 0.23 AU, and its diameter is about 5 km.
Comet Humason(C / 1961 R1) - a giant comet, discovered in 1961. Its tails, despite being so far from the Sun, still extend 5 AU in length, which is an example of unusually high activity.
Comet McNaught(C/2006 P1), also known as the Great Comet of 2007, is a long-period comet discovered on August 7, 2006 by British-Australian astronomer Robert McNaught and has become the brightest comet in the last 40 years. Residents of the northern hemisphere could easily observe it naked eye in January and February 2007. In January 2007, the comet's magnitude reached -6.0; The comet was visible everywhere in daylight, and the maximum length of the tail was 35 degrees.