Comet of the Week: “Caesar’s Comet” C/42 K1
Perihelion: 44 B.C. May 25.0, q = 0.22 AU The appearance of a bright comet is certainly a stimulus of important scientific investigations, and, under the right circumstances, in today’s society can also be a focus for popular culture, at least for a while. In more ancient times, however, when comets were still widely considered …
Special Topic: Large Ground Meteorites
The general topic of meteorites was discussed as a “Special Topics” presentation four weeks ago. The large majority of meteorites that are known are not especially large, being of the order of a few kg in mass; with only a handful of exceptions, even the larger ones tend to have a mass of no more …
Space Shuttle Atlantis Word Search
As the workhorse of NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet, Atlantis flew 33 missions between 1985 and 2011. The orbiter visited Russia’s Mir space station seven times and the International Space Station 12 times. Astronauts launched interplanetary probes from the payload bay, and conducted the final servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope. We’ve hidden 36 words related …
This Week in History: May 17-23
MAY 17, 1882: Observers in the path of a total solar eclipse that crossed central Egypt see and photograph a bright comet during totality. Comet Tewfik X/1882 K1, which was never seen again, was an apparent Kreutz sungrazer, and is this week’s “Comet of the Week.” Solar eclipse comets, in general, are the subject of …
Comet of the Week: Tewfik X/1882 K1
Perihelion: 1882 May 17.5, q < 0.01 AU On May 17, 1882, the path of a total solar eclipse crossed northern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. As total eclipses go, it was a relatively short one, with the maximum duration of totality – which occurred in present-day Turkmenistan – being only 1 minute …
Special Topic: Solar Eclipse Comets
One of the most spectacular and awe-inspiring celestial sights is that of a bright, long-tailed comet – a “Great Comet,” the subject of a previous “Special Topics” presentation. On average, these appear about once a decade, and I have been privileged to have witnessed four of them during the half-century I have been observing comets …