Promoting science and technology education through spaceflight and weather balloons.

Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill

By |2025-02-05T08:09:10-05:00February 5th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Where is Comet ATLAS going? In the featured time-lapse video, the comet is not itself moving very much, but the Earth's rotation makes it appear to be setting over a hill. The Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) sequence was captured with an ordinary camera on January 22 from the Araucanía Region [...]

Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay

By |2025-01-28T08:09:07-05:00January 28th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Comets can be huge. When far from the Sun, a comet's size usually refers to its hard nucleus of ice and rock, which typically spans a few kilometers -- smaller than even a small moon. When nearing the Sun, however, this nucleus can eject dust and gas and leave a [...]

The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS

By |2025-01-26T08:09:08-05:00January 26th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Why does this comet have so many tails? C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) has developed several long and intricate tails visible from Earth's southern hemisphere over the past two weeks. Many observers reported seeing the impressive comet without any optical aid above the western horizon just after sunset. At least six different [...]

Comet G3 ATLAS: a Tail and a Telescope

By |2025-01-24T08:09:07-05:00January 24th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS has made a dramatic appearance in planet Earth's skies. A visitor from the distant Oort Cloud, the comet reached its perihelion on January 13. On January 19, the bright comet was captured here from ESO Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile. Sporting spectacular sweeping [...]

Comet ATLAS over Brasília

By |2025-01-21T08:09:12-05:00January 21st, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day What's that in the sky? Above the city, above most clouds, far in the distance: it's a comet. Pictured, the impressive tail of Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was imaged from Brasília, Brazil four days ago. Last week the evolving comet rounded the Sun well inside the orbit of planet Mercury, [...]

Comet ATLAS Rounds the Sun

By |2025-01-20T08:09:12-05:00January 20th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Why does Comet ATLAS have such colorful tails? Last week Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) passed its closest to the Sun -- well inside the orbit of Mercury -- and brightened dramatically. Unfortunately, the comet was then so angularly near the Sun that it was very hard for humans to see. [...]

The Meteor and the Comet

By |2024-11-27T08:09:06-05:00November 27th, 2024|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day How different are these two streaks? The streak on the upper right is Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas showing an impressive dust tail. The comet is a large and dirty iceberg that entered the inner Solar System and is shedding gas and dust as it is warmed by the Sun's light. The streak [...]

Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas over the Dolomites

By |2024-11-06T08:09:12-05:00November 6th, 2024|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas is now headed back to the outer Solar System. The massive dusty snowball put on quite a show during its trip near the Sun, resulting in many impressive pictures from planet Earth during October. The featured image was taken in mid-October and shows a defining visual feature of [...]

The Clipper and the Comet

By |2024-10-17T09:09:09-04:00October 17th, 2024|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day NASA's Europa Clipper is now headed toward an ocean world beyond Earth. The large spacecraft is tucked into the payload fairing atop the Falcon Heavy rocket in this photo, taken at Kennedy Space Center the day before the mission's successful October 14 launch. Europa Clipper's interplanetary voyage will first take [...]

Animation: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Tails Prediction

By |2024-10-15T09:09:08-04:00October 15th, 2024|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day How bright and strange will the tails of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS become? The comet has brightened dramatically over the few weeks as it passed its closest to the Sun and, just three days ago, passed its closest to the Earth. C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) became of the brightest comets of the past [...]

Go to Top