COBS NEWS Archive
Rainbow comet with a heart of sponge
A permeable heart with a hardened facade –the resting place of Rosetta’s lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is revealing more about the interior of the 'rubber duck' shaped-body looping around the Sun.
Hubble snaps close-up of celebrity comet NEOWISE
Whether it’s a surprise asteroid, colorful aurora or a heart-stopping eclipse, the landscape of the night sky is constantly changing. When a new visitor appears in view, it’s guaranteed to grab the attention of professional astronomers and casual sky gazers alike. Well, consider the Hubble Space Telescope the paparazzi of the sky, as it’s managed to snap the closest images yet of the sky’s latest visitor to make headlines, comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), after it passed by the Sun. Comet NEOWISE is considered the brightest comet visible from the Northern Hemisphere since 1997’s Hale-Bopp. It’s estimated to be traveling at a whopping 40 miles per second, or 144,000 miles per hour. The comet’s closest approach to the Sun took place on July 3 and it’s now heading back to the outer parts of the solar system, not to pass through again for another 7,000 years or so.
New Comet C/2020 O2 (Amaral)
CBET 4822 & MPEC 2020-P10, issued on 2020, August 02, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18) by Leonardo S. Amaral (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) on three 60-s CCD exposures taken on July 23 with a 0.3-m f/4 reflector. The new comet has been designated C/2020 O2 (Amaral).
Comet NEOWISE Sizzles as It Slides by the Sun, Providing a Treat for Observers
Catch the comet in the morning sky until July 11, after which you can find it just after sunset until mid-August.
A Comet Visitor and a Pretty Metal Moon
Want to see a comet? If you live in the northern hemisphere, use binoculars to look low in the northeastern sky before sunrise for comet NEOWISE—formally C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).
4,000th comet discovered by ESA and NASA Solar Observatory
On June 15, 2020, a citizen scientist spotted a never-before-seen comet in data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO -- the 4,000th comet discovery in the spacecraft's 25-year history.
ZWO ASI Camera type keys
In order to unify the camera type abbreviation keys of all ZWO ASI camera models, we had to change some of the currently used camera type keys.
New Comet C/2020 K7 (PANSTARRS)
CBET 4790 & MPEC 2020-L09, issued on 2020, June 02, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~20) in four 45-s w-band CCD images obtained with the Pan-STARRS1 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala. The new comet has been designated C/2020 K7 (PANSTARRS).
Solar Orbiter to pass through the tails of Comet ATLAS
ESA's Solar Orbiter will cross through the tails of Comet ATLAS during the next few days. Although the recently launched spacecraft was not due to be taking science data at this time, mission experts have worked to ensure that the four most relevant instruments will be switched on during the unique encounter.
New Comet C/2020 K3 (Leonard)
CBET 4782 & MPEC 2020-K159, issued on 2020, May 25, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18) by G. J. Leonard on images taken on May 22 UT with the Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt reflector. The new comet has been designated C/2020 K3 (Leonard).
