Week 06
This Week in History: February 2-8
FEBRUARY 2, 1106: Sky-watchers around the world see a brilliant comet during the daytime hours. In subsequent days it becomes visible in the evening sky, initially very bright with an extremely long tail, and although it faded rapidly it remained visible until mid-March. The available information is not enough to allow a valid orbit calculation, but …
Comet of the Week: Tago-Sato-Kosaka 1969g
Perihelion: 1969 December 21.27, q = 0.473 AU Everyone fondly remembers their “first.” When it comes to comets, my “first” came exactly 50 years ago on Monday evening, February 2, 1970, when I was 11 years old and in the 6th Grade, and involved a 5th-magnitude fuzzball located close to the 2nd-magnitude star Hamal in …
Special Topic: Comet observations from space
All astronomers, be they professional or amateur, or even just casual sky-watchers, have often had to contend with the vagaries of the earth’s atmosphere. Clouds will often get in the way, especially at inopportune times; almost every astronomer can recite stories of important observations that were precluded by cloudy weather. Even if the skies are …
Ice and Stone 2020 Word Search
Do your best to find these words that are scattered throughout the sixth weekly edition of Ice and Stone 2020. Words may be placed horizontally, vertically or even diagonally. Letters in the grid may be used in more than one word, but not all the letters in the grid have to appear in a word. More …