Philae found

Image credit: ESA

"Less than a month before the end of the mission, Rosetta’s high-resolution camera has revealed the Philae lander wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko." (font: ESA)

Chasing Comets

This is the first Inspiring Science Education Hangouts conducted by Dr. Pamela Gay:



This is part one of two. See the second part here: https://plus.google.com/events/coli5l...

"The solar system is littered with Ice. The bulk of this material orbits quietly in the outer Solar System, but sometimes, something disturbs the ice and the come plunging in toward the Sun. In this Hangout, we will discuss comets, how we explore them, and how they brought water to worlds like Earth."

The educational scenario can be found here: http://portal.opendiscoveryspace.eu/community/chasing-comets-774702?msg_id=23134

Philae landing

Philae landing confirmation expected at 16:00 UTC.

Watch live:

Rosetta live online

Wednesday you can follow the online emission here: http://www.opendiscoveryspace.eu/news/rosetta-rendezuous-comet-697664
It will be a very important day, Philae will be landind on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The lander is expected to achieve the first controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus. Its instruments should obtain the first images from a comet's surface and make the first in situ analysis to find out what it is made of.

Image credit: ESA

Comet ISON

Credit: HST

A comet’s journey through the solar system is perilous and violent. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether.
Right now, Comet ISON is making that journey. It began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.
font: NASA
More info: wikipedia

Why Are So Many Sun Grazing Comets Being Discovered? | NASA Space Science

A comet is an icy small Solar System body (SSSB) that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma (a thin, fuzzy, temporary atmosphere) and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. Comets have been observed since ancient times and have traditionally been considered bad omens.

font: wikipedia

The Comets Tale (playlist)

The Comets Tale (BBC):

Lulin Comet

Vê o cometa Lulin ao início da noite (Portugal) | Vé el cometa Lulin al início de la noche (España) | See the Lulin Comet at evening (England)

Two tail comet Lulin - Image from APOD-NASA

Read the explanation in http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html