Atlas Comet Will Be Spectacular By May!

Discussion in 'Science & Nature' started by Yvonne Smith, Mar 31, 2020.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I have been reading about the comet that is heading this direction. It is visible already as it comes closer, and supposed to be very bright by early May of this year.
    The comet is named Atlas because it was discovered at the observatory in Hawaii named “Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System”, which doesn’t sound very encouraging to me, as far as safety from impact.

    The comet does look like it comes very close to the earth as it makes its swing around the sun, and we go right through between the loop around. At least, hopefully, we do that.
    The comet is about a mile across, but it has an atmosphere that is at least half as large as the sun !
    It has a very long orbit, and only comes by our sun about once every 6,000 years.

    So, to speculate, some astronomers are saying that this is part of a larger comet that somehow broke apart at some point in time. We have all read that a possible collision between the earth and a comet or asteroid might have impacted the earth and killed the dinosaurs; so maybe that is what happened to the Atlas comet.
    Hopefully, it is not on a trajectory to do that again when it comes by this time.

    Here is a picture that shows how close it will be when it circles nearest the earth, and it looks like we are pretty close to it.
    I took a screenshot from the video, so it was hard to get the exact spot when Earth Nd the comet intersect; but I will post the video and the picture, so you can know what to watch for in the video.

    E025C583-FFFF-4F6C-9850-DEC17EA5863B.jpeg
     
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  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Here is the video that I took the screenshot from, and YouTube has more videos of the comet.




    The link to Spaceweather, which shows where in the sky to look for the comet. Our skies here have been pretty much overcast, but when we get some clear skies, we can go out and see if it is visible yet. Bobby has a telescope, so he should be able to find it maybe.

    https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2020/03/24/c2019y4-is-half-as-wide-as-the-sun/
     
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  3. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I was reading this morning a little more about the comet that is heading our way. We call it Comet ATLAS, but it is really C2019-y4, and it is supposed to be the closest to the Earth on May 23rd and the orbit shows it coming very close to us. The tail of the comet is said to be as long as the diameter of the sun.
    Now, they are reporting that the comet is breaking up, and that much of the debris could find its way to earth. One really interesting article that I read, links comets with virus pandemics. It was written in about 2000, so it was looking at a different comet at that time, but it makes sense to me , that if this is indeed a possibility, then it could happen with this comet, if we get falling debris from it as it passes us . It will pass earth on its way into the sun, and then again as it works its way back outward again, so we could have a longer time period of falling debris from the comet.

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  4. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    I'll be ready!
    Hal
    180.JPG
     
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    Last edited: Apr 18, 2020
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  5. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Here is the latest information about the incoming comet ATLAS, and also Comet SWAN; both of which are going to be passing also to earth in just a few more days.
    According to the video, the comets will not collide; but their paths are close enough that they will intersect paths with each other. He said that the electricity from the comets will also react with electricity coming from the sun, and that this could cause a huge EMP flare here on the earth. If this happens , our power grid is going to be down probably everywhere, and he thinks that it will take around 2 months to get things working again.

    I am hoping that he is wrong, but if it happens, this is going to be a seriously scary time to go through. He suggests getting cash out of the bank, and stocking up on at least 2 months of food.
    Not sure how we are going to be able to cook anything if there is no power, and maybe even no water in some places.
    Worth listening to this !

     
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  7. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    @Hal Pollner

    I am so jealous!!!!

    I live 1/2mile off the paved road surrounded by farms of several hundred acres, so have some protection from light pollution. In fact, I had my Dusk-to-Dawn light disabled, thus exchanging watching the bats for better astronomical viewing conditions.

    My deck is directly southern-facing in a reasonably cleared area, but the horizons are obscured by trees. I mostly get event notifications from Spaceweather.com

    I've had cheap telescopes since the late 60s and keep threatening to upgrade to a higher-end Meade...but nothing like you have!!! Although I've discovered that there's a lot of pleasure in viewing the moon through a good set of binoculars.
     
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  8. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Now, people who live where there are clear night skies and an unobstructed horizon (definitely NOT us !) will be able to see a new comet, comet SWAN, which is approaching the sun.
    This comet comes by here around every 11,000 years, according to the information on this video.

     
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  9. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    Large, expensive telescopes like the ones I have do not give you any more magnification than the cheap department-store models.

    What they give you is much more light-gathering power, which is totally different from magnification!

    This enables you to see dim, distant Galaxies, Nebulas, and Clusters which do not even appear in a small telescope at its highest magnifying power!

    See?

    Hal

    Hal
     
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