Utica Comets New Year #39;s 2014
A montage video of the past highlights of 2013.

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Utica Comets New Year's 2014 - Video

CometsTV: 1-3-14 Utica Comets vs. Rochester Americans Highlights

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CometsTV: 1-3-14 Utica Comets vs. Rochester Americans Highlights - Video

Comets vs Rochester Lancers
The Rochester Lancers make their first visit of 2014 to the Independence Events Center. The Comets will be honoring First Responders at tonight #39;s match.

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Comets vs Rochester Lancers - Video

Syracuse Silver Knights vs. Missouri Comets (January 10th, 2014)

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Syracuse Silver Knights vs. Missouri Comets (January 10th, 2014) - Video

What's covered here: What exactly are comets? Where do comets come from? What are asteroids? Why aren't they planets? What types of asteroids are there? What's the difference between meteor, meteoroid and meteorite? What causes "meteor showers"? What types of meteorites are there? What sort of objects have hit the Earth? How much damage can these objects do? When is the next chance for an Earth impact? Finally, we come to the last bit of detail involving the solar system - the junk. This is really just all of the little bits that can't be put into the categories of planet or satellite. We'll start off with the very spectacular comets, then the elusive asteroids, followed by the meteoroids-meteors-meteorites and end up with the problems that occur when worlds collide. Get ready for a bumpy ride! Comets Image of comet Hale-Bopp taken by Dr. Morgan, 1997.

Comets are quite different from planets in how they move around the solar system. While the planets tend to have fairly circular orbits, the orbits of comets are very elliptical, so that they are stretched out from near the Sun to the very edges of our solar system. Some of the orbits aren't even elliptical - the comets just do one passage in toward the solar system and then are gone forever. The orbits are also rather randomly oriented to the ecliptic; they could come in toward the Sun at pretty much any angle relative to the ecliptic. We know that comets are composed primarily of many varieties of ice, including water, carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia ice. There is also a bit of dirt mixed in, usually in the form of carbon. This makes them appear as dirty snowballs, which is actually the name for the model that is proposed for their compositions. The best way to think of a comet is that it is like a big chunk of ice, dirt and slush that gets stuck to the wheel well on your car during the winter.

Figure 1. The orbital paths of comets are very elongated (elliptical) and randomly oriented to the ecliptic.

Comets may appear as huge objects in the sky, but they are typically only about 10 km in diameter, much smaller than many other objects going around the Sun. This core or nuclei is how most comets appear when located in the outer solar system (beyond Jupiter's orbit). However, they don't always remain as small, dirty, frozen icebergs. Comets change as they orbit around the solar system, especially when they get into the inner solar system. As a comet moves closer to the Sun, the heat from the Sun will start to evaporate the ices that make up the core of the comet. The material is then in a gaseous state and will form around the core of the comet as a coma, or head of the comet. As the comet gets closer to the Sun, the gas starts getting blown off by the solar wind. Not only is the gas blown off, but also the heavier, dusty material gets blown away. Due to the motion of the comet, which is pretty fast, and the force exerted by the solar winds, the trail that this evaporated material leaves can grow quite large and will develop into tails. The coma can be thousands of times (or more) larger than the cometary nuclei, while the tails can be up to 1 A. U. in size (remember, 1 A. U. is about 100 million miles!).

Two tails are usually seen. These include the gas tail (also called the ion tail), which is made up of material that is blown straight back by the solar wind. This is generally made of the really lightweight gases. Within the gas tail you find stuff such as water vapor, CO, CO2, N2, ammonia and methane gases and particles. The gas tail has a rather ragged appearance and is sometimes rather bluish. It is always pointed directly away from the Sun. The other tail, the dust tail, is made up of heavier particles and is not as greatly affected by the solar wind. It has a very fuzzy appearance, often looking rather yellow-ish or whitish. This is, of course, made up of mainly dust (rocks and silicates). This is much heavier material, so it is not pushed into a straight line like the gas tail but often has a curved shape that is sort of symbolic of comets. Both tails get longer as the comet gets closer to the Sun. Actually, the tails start developing when the comet is still quite a ways from the Sun, well beyond the orbit of the Earth.

Another thing about comets that people are confused by is how fast they move. Comets orbit the Sun, so they obey Kepler's laws, just like the planets. Over the course of an evening it is possible to see tiny motions of a comet relative to the stars, especially if it is close to perihelion, but they don't go streaking across the sky as is often portrayed in cartoons. Think of it this way - you know that the Moon moves relative to the background stars, right? Can you actually see its motion if you sit there looking at the Moon for some time? No, because from our view point it looks like it is hardly moving along, but if you look at it the next evening, you'll see it is in a different location relative to the stars. The same is true for comets; their motions may be apparent from one night to the next, but to see motion with your eyes over the course of a few minutes during one evening would be difficult, if not impossible.

A comet is made up of material that gets evaporated easily by the Sun, so comets lose mass with each passage around the Sun. As much as one percent of their masses can be blown away. Comets may start out very icy, but this is not how they'll look for long, since the ice is the first thing to go. After a while, their nuclei will look very dark and dirty, since the dark, dirty material (mainly carbon) will not get blown away as easily. Comets that can't withstand the strong solar winds can also shatter apart. This has been observed recently in the case of Comet LINEAR (C/1999 S4), and Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, both of which broke apart into smaller pieces. Other comets that pass very close to the Sun can either completely disintegrate or actually hit the Sun!

Where do comets come from? Comets were originally thought to come from the Oort Cloud, a spherical region that extends about 50,000 AU from the Sun where the cores of comets reside. Every once in a while, the comets are perturbed by a passing star or collision with other comets and some fall in toward the solar system. These comets tend to have orbits that are very elongated. In some cases the comet will only pass near the Sun once. In other cases the comet will have its path altered, usually by going too close to Jupiter, and it will become trapped into a shorter period around the Sun. The existence of the Oort Cloud is based on the characteristics of comets. Many comets tend not to be aligned with the ecliptic, so it makes sense that they originate from a place that surrounds the solar system in all directions. Also, the very long period (greater than 1000 years) comets have paths that stretch out to such great distances that it is logical that they originated at great distances from the Sun. It is estimated that there are about 100 billion comet cores out in the Oort cloud.

There is also evidence that many of the short period comets do not come from the Oort Cloud but from a closer reservoir of cometary material that was previously mentioned (in the last set of notes), the Kuiper Belt. This region is much closer than the Oort Cloud, extending from about 40 AU out to a few hundred AU at most. The characteristics of Kuiper Belt Objects can help explain the shorter period comets (less than 1000 years), especially those with orbits that tend to be closer to the ecliptic. Remember, if the distance from the Sun is smaller, the time for an orbit is smaller - Kepler's Third Law is action.

Figure 4. The two comet sources are shown. First is the Oort cloud, located much further from the solar system, and the second is the Kuiper belt, located just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Image from Calvin J. Hamilton.

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Comets, Asteroids, Meteorites and Impacts

January 10, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Oklahoma City Barons stunned the Utica Comets by a score of 3-2 Thursday Night at the Cox Convention Center, with a goal with four seconds left in regulation, and then the game-winning goal just 17 seconds into overtime.

With the defeat, the Comets fell to 11-18-2-2, and the Barons improved to 14-17-1-5. Nicklas Jensen netted two goals for the Comets, while Anton Lander picked up three points, all assists, for the Barons.

The Comets struck first just 5:13 into the game, as Nicklas Jensen deflected a Yann Sauve shot from the point past Bachman. Cal O'Reilly picked up the secondary assist.

Exactly a minute into a late period power play, the Barons tied the game at one. Anton Lander from the hashmark on the boards, found Tyler Pitlick all alone in the slot. Pitlick one-timed the Lander feed through the five-hole of Joe Cannata. Brad Hunt picked up his 16th point of the season with the secondary assist.

The score remained locked at one until 4:11 into the third period, where Jensen would find the back of the net yet again. Benn Ferriero blasted a one-timer on the power play, the puck found Jensen's stick on the back door, after it was deflected by Alex Grenier in front. Jensen knew what to do from there, and banged home the puck for his second goal of the night.

The Comets snagged defeat from the jaws of victory as they gave up a goal with four seconds remaining in the game. Landers streaked down Cannata's right-hand side, and threw the puck in front. The puck found Ryan Hamilton in the slot, who found the back of the net to tie the game at two.

Just 17 seconds into overtime Taylor Fedun skated through several Comets defenders, and roofed the game-winning goal past Cannata. Anton Lander and Andrew Miller picked up the assists on the goal.

Joe Cannata stopped 29 of 32 shots en route to the loss.

The Comets are back in action Saturday night as they take on the Texas Stars at 8 p.m. EST.

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Late Goals Doom Comets

January 9, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets UTICA COMETS (11-18-1-2) @ OKLAHOMA CITY BARONS (13-17-1-5)

Cox Convention Center, 8 p.m.

Radio: Radio: 94.9 K-Rock

Tonight's Game: The Utica Comets continue their road swing with a trip to the Midwest as they visit Oklahoma City for the first time this season. The game is delayed by a day due to poor weather conditions that pushed back the Comets flight.

When They Last Met: Tonight is the first ever meeting between Utica and Oklahoma City.

Comets Outlook: Alexandre Grenier and Kellan Lain each found the back of the net, but it was not enough as the Comets dropped a 5-2 decision to the Toronto Marlies, their first loss of the season north of the border. Darren Archibald, Pascal Pelletier, Alex Mallet and Yann Sauve picked up assists for the Comets. Playing in his first game since Dec. 20, Joacim Eriksson failed to extend his personal winning streak to five games. The Utica goaltender stopped 25 of 29 shots in the defeat.

Barons Outlook: Oklahoma City was victorious in its last contest, 5-3 over the San Antonio Rampage. Anton Lander (1-1-2) and Martin Gernat (2-0-2) each collected two points for the Barons, who were victorious for the 13th time this season. Curtis Hamilton and Derek Nesbitt also scored for Oklahoma City. Richard Bachman picked up his fifth win of the season between the pipes, with 28 saves on 31 San Antonio shots.

Big Benn is Back: Following two games played with Vancouver of the NHL, Benn Ferriero was reassigned to the Comets last evening. Ferriero has recorded 22 points (10-12-22) this season through 32 games played, which ranks second on the team.

Pass-cals the Puck: With his assist against Toronto, Comets center Pascal Pelletier has now picked up 10 points over his past 10 games. The Utica man is currently tied for eighth in the AHL with 21 assists this season and is fourth in assists per game (0.75) amongst players with at least 25 games played.

Going Grenier: Alexandre Grenier has cemented his place in Comets history as the first rookie to record ten goals in a season. Grenier is tied for tenth in rookie goal scoring and 15th amongst all first year AHL players in points with 21. The Laval, QC native has also recorded seven points (5-2-7) over his past six games played.

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Gameday: Comets at Oklahoma City

A key to Castons resurgence in girls basketball in recent years has been the play of post players Anna Brown and Mickayla Rans.

The duo are putting up good numbers for the 7-4 Comets this season. In fact they have been rebounding machines as they are combining for almost 16 rebounds per game.

Five-foot-11 Brown is averaging 8.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and 5-foot-9 Rans is at 11.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest.

I think they do a good job of setting the tone inside, Caston coach Carl Davis said. We want to get the ball inside to them and were at our best when we get the ball inside to start our offense. Theyve both done a good job of developing their game and both can score with their back to the basket. Thats something a few years ago that we really didnt have. They also do a good job of controlling the boards and both do a good job of rebounding for us.

The duo helped the Comets go 13-10 a year ago, their best season since they went 13-6 in 1997. The Comets are one game ahead of last years pace when they started 6-5 after 11 games.

Both Brown and Rans said the Comets have a close-knit group this year. The team features five seniors that make up the core of the team that have been playing basketball together since they were in elementary school.

Were really good at communicating and were so close as a team, and that has really helped, Brown said. Weve all kind of grown together.

Were not surprised [with the recent success] because weve all worked hard as a team. Were not surprised at the outcome.

The Comets finished runner-up at the Cass County Tournament. They were able to stay within 24 points of Class 4A No. 8 Logansport that features Miss Basketball candidate Whitney Jennings in a 64-40 loss in the Berry Bowl. Brown along with teammate Marli Leazenby were named to the all-tournament squad.

The Comets opened Midwest Conference play with a 46-45 win in double overtime at Frontier on Dec. 21. Rans had a double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

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Brown, Rans help lead Lady Comets' resurgence

The Newman Comets used surges in the first and third quarters to take control of a Three Rivers North home game Thursday, downing the Bureau Valley Storm 59-50.

Mary Alice Oswalt had 19 points, Julie Hurd scored 14, and Sarah Trujillo added 12 for the Comets (5-10, 4-2), who led 16-11 after one period, 28-15 at halftime, and 48-25 after three quarters. Aubree Schmitt had 12 rebounds, 12 assists and three steals, while Kayci Howell and Elexia Sanders pulled down six boards each.

Helena Osk Arnadottir led all scorers with 20 points for BV ( 7-9, 0-4), and she also had three assists and three steals. Darcy Kepner added 15 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, and Nicole Bornsheuer added nine points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Carlie Bickett pulled down eight boards, and Val Reuter had seven rebounds and three steals.

Riverdale 45, Amboy 36: The Rams 25-10 run in the second and third quarters did in the Clippers at home.

Kennedy Dinges had 13 points, and Kaitlyn Liebing scored 12 for Amboy (10-5, 4-2 Three Rivers North). Sydney Mericle led Riverdale (11-7, 4-2) with 20 points.

Morrison 40, Fulton 22: Lakin Goodman poured in 25 points, and the Fillies (10-9, 2-4) coasted to a Three Rivers North win on the road.

Averi Leitzen led Fulton (3-15, 0-5) with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. The Steamers trailed 22-17 at halftime, then failed to score in the third quarter, and were ultimately outscored 18-5 in the second half.

Boys basketball

Polo 64, Pecatonica 54: The Marcos led throughout, but never could quite pull away from pesky Pec at home.

AJ Dollmeyer had 21 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists for Polo (16-1, 3-0 NUIC East), while Brad Cavanaugh added 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

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Comets in control vs. BV

Last updated at 12:51, Thursday, 09 January 2014

Workington Comets Josh Grajczonek and Mason Campton both continued with their fine form in the second round of the Australian championship at Undera yesterday.

Mason Campton and Josh Grajczonek

Grajczonek again made the B final, as he had done in the first round at Kurri Kurri, while Campton scored in all five of his rides finishing off with a victory.

His total of eight points meant that he only missed out on a place in the B final by a single point.

Grajczonek had started strongly with two victories and a second from his first three rides taking the scalps of Sam Masters, Rohan Tungate and Justin Sedgmen.

However, his last two rides only yielded one point but his total of nine was still enough to make the B final, where he was up against 2012 world champion Chris Holder, Dakota North and Tungate, and finished third.

Meanwhile Campton finished second in his first ride after being overhauled by Somersets Jason Doyle and followed that up with three consecutive third places.

He produced a brilliant gate in his last race to lead home the field.

It meant he finished on eight points and tied for eighth place an improvement on his six points and 11th place at Kurri Kurri.

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Workington Comets Grajczonek and Campton continue on fine form

January 10, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Oklahoma City Barons The Oklahoma City Barons (14-17-1-5) pushed their winning streak to three games in an exciting fashion with a 3-2 overtime thriller over the Utica Comets(11-18-2-2)Thursday Night at the Cox Convention Center.

After a flurry of chances in the final seven minutes of the third period and adding the extra attacker, Oklahoma City finally capitalized when Ryan Hamilton beat Joe Cannata with only four seconds remaining. Assists were credited to Anton Lander and Brad Hunt.

Nearly as soon as overtime began, it was all over. Taylor Fedun rushed into the offensive zone, made a move around the Utica defenseman and then shoveled the puck over Cannata's glove for the game-winner just 17 seconds in. Miller and Lander assisted on the goal.

The Comets and Barons got off to a fast start, with back and forth action dominating for much of the even strength action. The Comets got on the board first when Nicklas Jensen deflected a Yann Sauve point shot past Bachman's blocker 5:13 into the first period.

Oklahoma City evened things up with 1:50 remaining in the initial frame. The goal started with an Alexandre Grenier holding minor penalty where Tyler Pitlick made the Comets pay. Pitlick's one-timer beat Cannata to the blocker side off a beautiful, cross-ice pass from Lander. Hunt was credited with the second assist.

The second period was dominated between the pipes for both teams, as Richard Bachman and Cannata had an answer for the 10 shots each faced. The Barons had a brief 5-on-3 power play opportunity, but were unable to capitalize. After scoring on their only power play chance in the first period, they failed on both attempts in the second.

The final period began with a quick penalty to Roman Horak for holding the stick just 1:06 in. This time, the Comets made the Barons pay.

Jensen netted his second goal of the game to give the Comets a 2-1 lead, which nearly ended up being the game-winner.

Lander assisted on all three Barons goals and has caught fire of late. In his last eight AHL games, Lander has recorded seven goals and five assists for 12 points.

Bachman had 30 saves and Cannata answered with 26 of his own. Hunt recorded two assists in his return to the Barons after returning from the Edmonton Oilers.

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Barons Rally to Beat Comets in Overtime, 3-2