CONRAD Jordyn Beeghlys three-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning cleared the bases and lifted the Class 2A No. 15 BCLUW softball team to an eventual 5-2 triumph against East Marshall in Thursdays NICL West Division showdown.

East Marshall (9-10, 4-4) held a 2-1 lead after solo home runs by Juliana Arifi and Madison Farrington, but BCLUW (15-5, 6-1) countered with four runs in the sixth to go ahead for good. Leah Yantis walked, Jenna Willett singled and Samantha Ubben reached safely on a bunt. Beeghly lashed a double to the gap in left-center, and she later scored on Sara Sharps single through the left side.

Ubben struck out nine and walked two in the win. Kate Goecke also singled for the Comets.

Kodie Hoskey struck out eight and walked one for the Mustangs, and Melinda Puumala contributed two hits.

Trojans untouched first time through

REINBECK Cody Mead struck out seven in a five-hitter and the West Marshall baseball team finished the first half of its NICL West Division schedule undefeated in league play after a 6-2 win Thursday night at Gladbrook-Reinbeck.

Mead did not walk a batter and neither Rebel run came earned. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. David Disney finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run-scoring single, and Chandler Sponseller also was 2-for-4. Parker Hulbert added an RBI double and Ross Randall doubled and scored for the Trojans (14-3, 6-0).

Joe Smoldt got the loss on the mound for the Rebels (6-5, 3-3), allowing six runs one earned over four innings. He gave up seven hits and one walk, striking out four. Tyler Tscherter struck out four and walked one in three innings of relief, giving up two hits.

Kyle Koppen had two hits, including an RBI double, to lead the Rebel bats.

Porter, Trojans blank G-R softball, 10-0

GLADBROOK Grace Porter pitched a five-hit shutout and the Class 3A No. 14 West Marshall softball team defeated Gladbrook-Reinbeck 10-0 in six innings in Wednesdays NICL West Division contest.

Porter struck out five and walked one for the win, while the Trojans (17-0, 5-0) needed just five hits to do all their damage offensively. Gladbrook-Reinbeck pitching issued 12 walks.

Kayla Cripps was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored to lead West Marshall offensively. Katie Price, Karisa Blocker and Kallie Malloy each had a single. Brooke Snider, Georgia Porter, Malloy and Emma Meyer drove in one run apiece.

Ranked Blazers sweep STC softball

TAMA The South Tama County softball team suffered losses 12 and 13 in a row, falling 13-0 in three innings and 11-3 to Class 3A No. 7 Dyersville Beckman in Wednesdays WaMaC Conference doubleheader.

The Trojans (1-18) were held hitless in the first game by Sydney Steffen, who struck out four and faced only one more than the minimum. Amber Boeckenstedt homered and drove in five runs for the Blazers (19-4).

STC sophomore Brittney Breya got the loss, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings.

The Trojans pieced together single runs in the first, fourth and seventh innings of game two, falling 11-3. Allison Yuska went 1-for-4 and scored a run, while Lauren Yuska finished 1-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base. Sabrina Holtz and Saylor Upah added singles for STC.

Ashlynn Ellenbecker pitched all seven innings in the loss, allowing six earned runs on 13 hits and two walks. The Blazers scored at least once in all seven at-bats, with Steffen hitting a solo homer to lead her team.

South Hardin overtakes Mustangs, 7-1

ELDORA Two batters into the game, the East Marshall baseball team had a 1-0 lead against South Hardin. But that was the last time the Mustangs made a dent on the scoreboard, falling 7-1 on Thursday night to the host Tigers in NICL West Division action.

Cade Spieker struck out six and did not walk a batter, scattering seven hits against no walks with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Colton Haley struck out a pair to end the game.

Alex Gustafson finished 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead South Hardin (3-5, 2-4). Spiekers lone hit was a double, while Tanner Lawrence drove in two runs.

Zane Johnson led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on Wesley Hamors hit, but East Marshall (3-13, 1-5) was unable to score again. Johnson went 2-for-4 while Kam Hoskins finished 2-for-2 at the plate. Johnson got the pitching loss, allowing five runs four earned on six hits over four innings. He walked five and struck out one.

Rebel bats quiet against Sailors, 5-0

WATERLOO The Gladbrook-Reinbeck baseball team could not come up with enough offense to keep pace with Waterloo Columbus on Wednesday as the Sailors scratched out a 5-0 win against the visiting Rebels.

Winning pitcher Kaleb Boleyn and Blake Freeseman both had two-run hits for Waterloo Columbus (7-11). Boleyn allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings for the win, walking one while striking out five.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck (6-4) got five singles, including two from losing pitcher Kyle Koppen. Tyler Tscherter, Alex Tscherter and Matt Roeding added hits for the Rebels.

IOWA CITY Iowa will have a logo displayed at midfield in Kinnick Stadium next season for the first time in ...

STATE CENTER Nat Markle delivered a five-hitter and the West Marshall baseball team rallied for three runs in ...

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SPORTS SHORTS: Comets chase away East Marshall, 5-2 - Marshalltown Times Republican

Laurel Kornfeld

June 13th, 2017

This movie shows the progression of NASAs Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) investigation for the missions first three years following its restart in December 2013. Image & Caption Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/PSI

During its third year of operation, NASAs Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft discovered 97 hitherto unknown objects in the Solar System, including 28 that are near-Earth objects (NEOs).

Also, according to data released by the NEOWISE mission team, 64 of the 97 newly identified objects are asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, while five of them are comets.

In addition to making a plethora of discoveries, NEOWISE also revealed new data about known asteroids and comets.

NEOWISE is not only discovering previously uncharted asteroids and comets, but it is providing excellent data on many of those already in our catalog, said Amy Mainzer, NEOWISE mission principal investigator from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. It is also proving to be an invaluable tool in the refining and perfecting of techniques for near-Earth Object discovery and characterization by a space-based infrared observatory.

Artists concept of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE spacecraft, in its orbit around Earth. In September 2013, engineers brought the mission out of hibernation to hunt for more asteroids and comets in a project called NEOWISE. Image Credit: IPAC-Caltech

NEOWISE is the second incarnation of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), an infrared space telescope launched in 2009 to image 99 percent of the sky in the infrared.

After being placed in hibernation since completing that mission in 2011, the spacecraft was reactivated in September 2013 as NEOWISE, with the new goal of identifying potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids and comets as well as determining the sizes and compositions of similar, more distant objects.

Along with the announcement of its latest discoveries, the NEOWISE mission team created and published an animation depicting all findings made during the past year.

The more than 2.6 million infrared images of the sky captured in the missions third year have been added to the total data collected during the spacecrafts first two years of operation, yielding an archive with 7.7 million image sets and over 57.7 billion sources revealed by those images.

Studies of these images have given scientists views of objects rarely seen, such as Comet C/2010 L5 (WISE). Using new computer modeling techniques, the researchers obtained new insights into the behavior of comets especially sudden, brief outbursts that are unpredictable and, therefore, often missed.

One particular new technique, known as tail-fitting, uncovers the behavior history of individual comets by measuring the size and quantity of dust in their regions as well as the time since their ejection from the comets nucleus.

This technique could eventually make it possible for all-sky surveys to study cometary outbursts when they happen and collect important data from these events.

Comets that have abrupt outbursts are not commonly found, but this may be due more to the sudden nature of the activity rather than their inherent rarity. It is great for astronomers to view and collect cometary data when they find an outburst, but since the activity is so short-lived, we may simply miss them most of the time, said Emily Kramer, lead author of a study on the latest NEOWISE results and also a Postdoctoral Program Fellow at JPL.

NEOs, asteroids, and comets that have been pushed into Earths neighborhood through the gravitational influence of planets are of special interest to scientists because of the possibility, however small, that they could impact the Earth.

In its three years of operation, NEOWISE has cataloged 693 NEOs. Out of those discovered in the last year, ten asteroids, based on their orbits and sizes, have been deemed potentially hazardous.

Video courtesy of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Tagged: NASA NEOWISE The Range WISE

Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, NJ, who enjoys writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned a Graduate Certificate of Science from Swinburne Universitys Astronomy Online program. Her writings have been published online in The Atlantic, Astronomy magazines guest blog section, the UK Space Conference, the 2009 IAU General Assembly newspaper, The Space Reporter, and newsletters of various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the Cranford, NJ-based Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Especially interested in the outer solar system, Laurel gave a brief presentation at the 2008 Great Planet Debate held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD.

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NASA's NEOWISE mission discovers 97 new asteroids, comets - SpaceFlight Insider

The Ohio State University Radio Observatory and the North American AstroPhysical Observatory

On August 15 1977, Jerry R Ehman was working as an astronomer at SETIs Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio University when he picked up on a signal sequence which lasted for 72 seconds stemming from the constellation Sagittarius.

Ehman was so shocked by what he had picked up that he wrote wow! next to the signal on a piece of paper, which is what it has become known as since.

Last week, astronomer Antonio Paris from the St Petersburg College announced that he had believed he had solved the case, attributing it to two comets 266P/Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) that released a hydrogen emission that reached a frequency of 1,420 megahertz.

The two comets past Earth on the same day in August 1977, according to data Prof Paris analysed from Nasa.

GETTY

However, other experts have disputed the claim, including the discoverer of the Wow! Signal, Mr Ehman.

Mr Ehman said that the Big Ear telescope had two feed horns which would have captured two different signals if it were two comets, yet it only recorded one.

He told Live Science: We should have seen the source come through twice in about three minutes: one response lasting 72 seconds and a second response for 72 seconds following within about a minute and a half.

GETTY

He added that the signal was cut off almost immediately, but that a comet could not escape the telescopes feed so quickly.

Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at SETI the search for extraterrestrial intelligence institute that he also believes it was not a comet.

Getty Images

1 of 13

The Crop Circles are often believed to be created by aliens, as there is no proper explanation behind this phenomenon.

He told Astronomy Now: I dont know of any detection of the 21cm line of neutral hydrogen from a comet, and as I used to study galaxies in the neutral hydrogen line, I probably would have heard of that.

However, Prof Paris is sticking to his guns: Astronomers have not detected hydrogen emission from comets because there has not been much research specifically on this subject.

While there has been a handful of studies, I suspect we are the first to build a ten-metre telescope to specifically look at this type of Solar System body.

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Alien contact? 'Wow! Signal' case back open as astronomers rule out comets - Express.co.uk

GREENVILLE Coleman wouldnt be denied this time.

Playing in the Division 4 softball quarterfinals for a third straight year against their postseason nemesis, and overcoming an unexpected venue change, coach Chad Klopfs Comets posted an emphatic 5-0 victory over Holton on Tuesday afternoon at Greenville High School.

The triumph sends Coleman (35-6) to its first semifinal berth since 2005, when the Comets won the state championship. They will play Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Michigan State Universitys Secchia Stadium. Whiteford beat Unionville-Sebewaing 1-0 on Tuesday.

Im not used to smiling after this one, said a beaming Klopf, whose Comets had lost to Holton in the quarterfinals each of the past two seasons.

He had plenty to smile about this time.

Coleman junior pitcher Faith Barden set the tone for the game by striking out the side in the top of the first, and she finished with a three-hitter and nine strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Comets solved Holton sophomore pitcher Haylee Brant, who had beaten them last year in the quarterfinals. They had 10 hits, including at least one in every inning but the fourth.

It was our turn, said Coleman junior rightfielder Kalie Weidman. Everyone stepped up, and we played great.

Several dozen Coleman fans lined the fences to watch the game, which was originally scheduled to be played closer to home for the Comets at Saginaw Valley State, but was later moved because Greenville was a shorter drive for Holton and the two teams in the adjacent baseball quarterfinal, Portland St. Patrick and Muskegon Catholic Central, which was also moved from SVSU to Greenville.

The girls had a little chip on their shoulders about that, Klopf said. But if hell froze over, we would play (Holton) on the ice.

Coleman got the scoring started in the bottom of the third when senior Liz Dana hit a leadoff double and took third on Jaden Berthumes one-out single. A walk to Barden loaded the bases, and Autumn Tubbs lined an infield single that went off the gloves of the third-baseman and the shortstop to score Dana and make it 1-0.

A double play kept the Comets from scoring more in that inning, and Brant settled down, keeping Coleman off the board for the next two innings.

The Red Devils got runners to second and third with two outs in the fourth, when Kaylie Piper sent a line drive screaming to rightfield. But Weidman snared the ball to end what turned out to be Holtons best scoring threat.

I saw it going down, and I knew I had to step up, Weidman said of Pipers liner. I had to lunge for it.

Kalie made a huge catch in rightfield and had two big hits, Klopf noted.

Holtons Brant had retired nine of the past 10 hitters until Brianna Townsend drove a triple over the rightfielders head with two outs in the sixth. Weidman followed with a soft single to left to bring in Townsend and make it 2-0.

The Comets then gave Barden a good cushion with three more runs in the top of the seventh. Kenzie Miller reached on an error and scored on a double by Berthume, who took third on the throw home. Berthume then beat a throw home on a fielders choice grounder by Barden. Courtesy runner Annabelle Bovee eventually scored with two outs when Townsend reached on an error, making it 5-0.

Barden allowed a one-out infield single in the bottom of the seventh but retired the next two hitters on a strikeout and a popout to finish off the victory and improve to 17-3.

Brant, like Barden, pitched a complete game.

Dana, Colemans only senior, said it was definitely a great feeling to finally beat Holton in the quarterfinals, while adding that her team wasnt intimidated by the Red Devils.

It feels great, she said. There was a little bit of a revenge factor, but we just knew we had to play our best game.

Weve seen pitchers like (Brant) this season, Dana added. We knew we could hit off of her.

Now its on to the final four for Coleman. If the Comets beat Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Friday, they will play the winner of the Kalamazoo Christian/Indian River Inland Lakes semifinal in the championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m.

(I want our players to) have fun, Klopf said. Its the next step. I want them to go down there, enjoy themselves, and keep playing ball.

Its really exciting, Weidman said of advancing to the semifinals. Everyone is pumped and ready for that game.

Dana said the things that define the Coleman team are a feeling of being a family, aggressiveness, and confidence.

We believe in each other, Dana said, adding of Friday, I just hope we play our absolute best game.

The Comets all wore pink ribbons in Tuesdays game in honor of Becky Dennis, who died on Monday after a long battle with illness. She was a paraprofessional at Coleman Elementary School and her daughter, Jordan Dennis, is a good friend of the players on the softball team. They all signed a game ball after Tuesdays win and gave it to Jordan in honor of her mother.

We wanted to dedicate the game to her, Dana said of Becky Dennis. Their whole family will always have a special place in our hearts.

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Third time's a charm for Coleman's softball team, as Comets beat ... - Midland Daily News

There were very few, if any, words spoken as the Halifax County High School baseball team returned to its dugout for the final time.

With two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning, Briar Woods High Schools Sean Clark delivered a hard-hit ground ball through the middle of the infield to score the game-winning run to top the Comets 5-4 in Saturdays Virginia High School League 5A State Tournament championship game at James Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax.

Clarks hit was the biggest of two shocks the Comets experienced in the state title game, the first coming in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Comets held a 4-2 lead and were within two outs of victory only to see the Falcons rally to score twice to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The loss left the Comets, who were seeking to bring home what would have been only the second state title in Halifax County High School history, finishing with a 21-4 for the season.

Its a tough pill to swallow, remarked Comets junior outfielder and pitcher Brayden Moore.

That was the longest game Ive played in my life. We battled hard for 14 innings. You cant say enough about the heart of this team.

Comets sophomore pitcher Alex Lowery, who was on the mound at the end of the game, said he was proud of the team and the effort during the marathon 14-inning contest.

We had a really good game, Lowery pointed out.

We played 14 solid innings. It was a game that one hit at the right time could win it all for either team. Thats all they (Briar Woods High School) did, they got one simple hit, a ground ball through the hole.

It was a tough loss for the Comets in the game that was a rematch of the 5A North Region Tournament championship game a week earlier that the Falcons won 10-0.

This weekend marked only the fourth time in the history of the Halifax County High School baseball program that a Comets baseball team will have played in a state championship game.

Im just proud of the way the kids played all season, said Comets Head Coach Kenneth Day.

You couldnt have asked for any more from these kids. They battled all day. We were right there, just this close.

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Comets' loss is one tough pill to swallow - YourGV.com

Local Sports

Jun 11, 2017

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW second baseman Samantha Ubben, right, awaits the throw as Cedar Falls baserunner Ashton Syharath dives back to the bag during the second inning of Saturdays game at the BCLUW Comet Softball Invitational Tournament in Conrad.

CONRAD It starts as a collection of pieces.

By the time the season ends, head coach Dave Lee has fit the BCLUW softball team together into what he wants the picture to look like.

On Saturday, the Class 2A No. 15 Comets slid a couple more shapes into place by beating Cedar Falls, 10-2, and 3A No. 13 Union, 8-1, in the BCLUW Comet Softball Invitational Tournament that annual coincides with the towns Black Dirt Days celebration.

Junior Lauren Anderson pitched in back-to-back games for the first time this season, senior Samantha Ubben shined against a ranked opponent and the Comets (13-4) did the things that have made them successful under Lees tenure.

Even when a runner got hung up or cut down, Lee acknowleged the trial-by-fire approach he takes with his younger players and how it helps mold them for future roles with his squad.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUWs Jenna Willett, center, runs up the first-base line as teammate Lizzy Garber, left, prepares to slide in safely ahead of the throw home by Cedar Falls pitcher Tjaden Petersen during the Comets eight-run fourth inning.

Everybody who becomes anything for us starts as a runner, said Lee.

BCLUW beat up on Cedar Falls (2-13) to the tune of an eight-run fourth inning that featured 12 batters, six hits, a pair of walks and perfectly executed small-ball. Jordyn Beeghlys two-run double to deep left field was the highlight of the Comets eruption, chasing Tigers starting pitcher Tjaden Petersen from the circle.

Easton Swanson and Kate Goecke greeted reliever Tehya Tournier with back-to-back singles, but a baserunning blunder kept the Comets from piling on even more.

Cedar Falls scratched together a pair of hits in its ensuing at-bat, but Anderson limited the damage despite having less-than-100 percent of her best, according to Lee.

We threw Lauren back-to-back because we wanted to have Sam for the Union game, and Lauren fought through the trouble spots she had, said Lee. And I thought our defense helped her get out of some stuff. It was a good day for our team in everything we do.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Beeghly, Swanson, Goecke, Ubben and Olivia Hughes had two hits apiece as the Comets totaled 13 in the five-inning win. Anderson struck out three, walked two, hit two batters and allowed just three singles.

And after opening Saturday with a convincing win, BCLUW made even more of a statement by beating a ranked Union Community club by a convincing margin. The Knights (10-5) did not throw their top pitcher, Lee said, but that didnt seem to bother him too much.

I would have liked to have seen her against us, but the good thing was they only got one run on us for all the runs theyve scored this year, said Lee.

Union, averaging more than seven runs per game going into the ranked showdown with BCLUW, held Peyton Parker out of the circle. Instead, the Comets reached Justine Nagel for five runs in three innings and added three more against Natalie Tecklenburg.

Beeghly had a pair of run-scoring doubles and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Comets, who scored once in the first, four times in the third and added three more in the sixth before Union finally got to Ubben. Parker connected on an 0-2 pitch out of the park for a solo home run, one of only five Knights hits in their first loss in a week.

Ubben got the last word, however, by striking out 11, including the days final batter.

BCLUW rides a six-game win streak into Mondays NICL West Division showdown with 3A No. 14 West Marshall. The unbeaten Trojans (14-0) are the only other team in the conference without a loss.

BCLUW Comet Invitational

At Conrad

Fridays Games

Waterloo West 16, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 6

Sumner-Fredericksburg 5, Cedar Falls 4

BCLUW 4, Marshalltown 3

Saturdays Games

BCLUW 10, Cedar Falls 2

Cedar Falls 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4

Marshalltown 4, Sumner-Fredericksburg 2

Union 7, Waterloo West 3

Sumner-Fredericksburg 9, Waterloo West 7

BCLUW 8, Union 1

Marshalltown 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3

All-Tournament Team (locals only)

BCLUW: Lauren Anderson, Jordyn Beeghly, Samantha Ubben

Marshalltown: McKaylee Dawson, Regan Mazour, Aspen Chadderdon

Gladbrook-Reinbeck: Haleigh Berendes, Rachel Cooley, Reagan Skovgard.

BCLUW 10, Cedar Falls 2

BCLUW 110 80 10 13 2

Cedar Falls 000 20 2 3 4

Lauren Anderson and Kate Goecke; Tjaden Petersen, Tehya Tournier (4) and Cara Forsblom. WAnderson. LPetersen. 2BBCLUW: Jordyn Beeghly. LOBBCLUW 4, CF 4.

Cedar Falls 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4

G-R 013 00 4 9 4

Cedar Falls 019 13 14 10 2

Rachel Cooley and Taylor Gienger; Avery Canfield and Lex Hesse. WCanfield. LCooley. 2BG-R: Haleigh Berendes; CF: Lean Forsblom. 3BCF: Lily Becker, Ashton Syharath. LOBG-R 6, CF 4.

Marshalltown 4, Sumner-Fredericksburg 2

S-F 000 020 0 2 5 1

MHS 200 200 X 4 5 5

Kaylyn Hoth, Mariah Nuss (4) and Kylie Hoth; McKaylee Dawson and Erica Johnson. WDawson. LNuss. 2BMHS: Ciara Feldman. HRMHS: Aspen Chadderdon (1). LOBS-F 9, MHS 4.

Marshalltown 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3

MHS 2(10)2 0 14 5 1

G-R 030 0 3 7 2

Dawson, Kailee Pollard (2) and Johnson, Kyra Feldman (2); Sasha Nagle, Gracey Nagle (2), Alyssa Morgan (3) and Gienger. WPollard. LS.Nagle. 2BMHS: McKenna Major. HRMHS: Feldman (1). LOBMHS 1, G-R 5.

BCLUW 8, Union 1

BCLUW 104 003 0 8 9 2

Union 000 001 0 1 5 3

Samantha Ubben and Goecke; Justine Nagel, Natalie Tecklenburg (4) and Jordyn Nagel. WUbben. LJu.Nagel. 2BBCLUW: Beeghly 2. HRU: Peyton Parker (3). LOBBCLUW 7, Union 7.

INDIANAPOLIS LaVall Jordan is getting another chance to make his imprint at Butler. The Bulldogs former ...

GARWIN The GMG activities department is holding its inaugural four-person best shot golf fundraiser Saturday at ...

JOHNSTON Fresh off its first two wins of the season, the Marshalltown softball team got snapped back to the ...

The Marshalltown High School athletics fundraiser golf outing will be held Tuesday at the American Legion Memorial ...

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No. 15 Comets taking shape - Marshalltown Times Republican

NEOWISE mission has revealed more dangerous objects sharing our space.

NASA has announced the discovery of ten new asteroids in space which pose a threat to life on Earth. The ten objects were discovered over the past year by the "Near-Earth Orbit Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer" (NEOWISE). The threats are still being assessed.

Earth is close to the center of a cosmic shooting gallery, and sooner or later, we will be hit.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- The Solar System is filled with rocks, all hurtling around the sun at speeds many times faster than a bullet. Most of these rocks are tiny, too small to cause harm to life on Earth. When these objects collide with our atmosphere, they burn brightly causing what we call a "meteor" or more commonly, a "shooting star."

Most other objects are too far away, and their orbits don't intersect Earth's, so they pose no danger.

Scientists unanimously agree that it is only a matter of time before one of these objects strikes the Earth. The extent of the damage will depend on its size and the location of impact.

Missions, such as NEOWISE are dedicated to locating more of these objects, and in the past year, they have discovered ten new asteroids. Those asteroids are still being evaluated to see if any will collide with Earth in the future.

So far, no asteroid has been observed on a collision course, but that could change. A new one could be discovered on a dangerous course, or an old one may have its orbit disturbed and as a result, could be set on a new collision course.

A large asteroid impacting the Earth could do as little as destroy a city or as much as destroying all life on Earth. If scientists detect one such threat in advance, they could develop some way to change its orbit. The slight nudging of an asteroid might be all it takes, but this is only possible if the asteroid is detected far enough in advance.

In addition to the new asteroids, NEOWISE has also located five new comets, which pose a similar threat to Earth. Comets usually come from deep space and often have highly elliptical orbits that cause them to swing past the Sun once every several decades. Comets can have variable orbits, and some swing past the Sun once and are ejected from the Solar System, while others plunge directly into the Sun itself. A few, however, can pass close to Earth and become visible in the night sky. And once, every hundred million years or so, one may hit Earth.

According to NASA, an unprecedented swarm of comets has been detected passing through the inner Solar System. Nobody knows why there has been an uptick in comet activity, but it's usually thought to come from the close approach of other stars, or unseen objects in deep space that causes disruption in the Oort Cloud, a halo of comets at the farthest reaches of our Solar System. It can take decades for a comet from the Oort Cloud to make the journey all the way to the inner Solar System.

Despite the discoveries of the ten asteroids, five comets, and over a hundred other, less dangerous objects, there is no immediate risk to Earth. Even the inner Solar System is a vast place, and there's plenty of room for a lot of asteroids to swirl without hitting Earth. But the danger from a single event is so great, we cannot afford to wait and hope we get missed every time.

The search continues.

---

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Earth in danger? NASA reports comet swarm, Earth-crossing ... - Catholic Online

The Virginia 5A State Runner-Up Halifax County High School baseball team received a warm return home Saturday night from its trip from Fairfax where it had played in the VHSL state tournament championship game earlier in the day.

A crowd estimated at between 300 and 400 family members, friends and well-wishers from the community gathered in the bus parking lot at Halifax County High School, erupting into applause as the Comets team bus arrived and continuing as players and coaches one-by-one stepped off the team bus.

Once off the bus, Comets players gathered and hoisted the state runner-up trophy to a round of applause from those in the gathering.

I very much appreciate the people coming out and welcoming our players back home, said Comets Head Coach Kenneth Day.

All of this is for these kids, and they deserve it. We very much appreciate the support the players families have given us this season, and we thank them for everything they have done to support the players and our baseball program.

I cant say thank you enough to the people and the businesses in the community that have supported us this year and in years past, Day added.

It takes the effort of everybody to make our program a success.

The Comets had a police escort from the Halifax County line on Route 360 all the way to Halifax County High School. Deputies with the Halifax County Sheriffs Office met the bus just after it crossed into Halifax County, and with one police cruiser in front and another behind, escorted the team to the South Boston Town limits.

There, South Boston Police joined in, and after traveling a short distance up Hamilton Boulevard, a fire truck from the South Boston Fire Department pulled up in front of the bus for the ride to Halifax County High School.

More here:

Comets receive grand welcome from hundreds of supporters - YourGV.com

Halifax County High School faced Briar Woods High School in the VHSL 5A State Tournament championship. Here are reports from the game.

2 p.m.: Briar Woods scored on a hit in bottom of 14th and won 5-4.

1:41 p.m.:The Falcons got a hit in the bottom of the 13th inning but Comets held. The score remains tied at 4-4 with the Comets coming to bat in the top of the 14th inning.

1:27 p.m.: The Falcons got runners on first and second base but Alex Lowery got a strikeout to end the inning. Game still tied 4-4 heading into the top of the 13th inning.This now becomes the longest playoff game a Comets team has ever been involved in.

1:17 p.m.:Comets fail to score in top of the 12th inning. Alex Lowery goes to the mound for the Comets to start the bottom of the 12th inning.

1:07 p.m.: The Comets got Holt Powell to third base but failed to score and the game remains tied at 4-4 heading into the top of the 12th inning.

12:51 p.m.: Falcons load the bases in the bottom of the 10th and a great catch by Comets second baseman Tyler Duffer of a fly ball ended the inning. The game continues now into the top of the 11th inning with the score still 4-4.

12:36 p.m.: Comets pitcher Drew Harlow made a great play to get the last out of the 9th inning after the ball ricocheted off of him and the game is still tied at 4-4 heading into the top of the 10th inning.

12:24 p.m.:The Comets had a good defensive inning in the bottom of the 8th and the game remains tiedat 4-4heading into the 9th inning.

12:09 p.m.: Comets end the inning on a strikeout from Drew Harlow but the game is tied 4-4 and heads into extra innings.

12:04 p.m.:Comets are in a jam. The Falcons have the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 7th inning. Briar Woodshas tied game.

11:54 a.m.: Halifax is only 3 outs away now from the school's second ever state baseball title. Comets lead 4-2 heading into bottom of the last inning.

11:48 a.m.:Comets dodge a big bullet with big defensive plays from Dawson Watts at shortstop and Hunter Watts at first base after the Falcons got a double and still lead 4-2 heading into the final inning.

11:36 a.m.: Comets failed to score in the top of the 6th inning but they are just six outs away from the state title.

11:27 a.m.: Comets pitcher Carlton Redd records his fifth strikeout of the game as the Comets hold the Falcons scoreless for the fourth consecutive inning and still lead 4-2 heading into the top of the sixth inning.

11:22 a.m.: Comets got a leadoff single from reserve Shaun Perkins to lead off the top of the fifth inning but could not score. Comets still lead 4-2.

11:13 a.m.: The Comets held the Falcons at bay in the bottom of the fourth inning and continue to lead 4-2.

11:05 a.m.: Comets have exploded for 4 runs in the top of the fourth inning with the help of a 2-RBI hit by Josh Barker and two Falcons errors to take the lead at 4-2.

10:46 a.m.: Briar Woods High School continues to lead 2-0 after three innings. Comets centerfielder Brayden Moore made a great running overhead catch of a fly ball at the fence for the first out of the bottom of the third inning.

10:33 a.m.: Comets continue to trail 2-0 after two innings. HCHS has not yet had a hit. Pitcher Carlton Redd recorded two strikeouts in the bottom of the second inning.

10:18 a.m.: Comets trail 2-0 after first inning. Two hits by Briar Woods HS and a Comets error gave the Falcons the early lead.

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Comets fall in marathon 14-inning state title game | Prep Sports ... - YourGV.com

A color scan of the original computer printout of the "Wow!" signal as detected by the Big Ear Radio Observatory in 1977.

An astronomer thinks he's pinpointed the source of a mysterious radio signal from space: a passing comet that nobody knew about. But his colleagues said they're still skeptical of the explanation, noting that comets don't emit radio waves in the right way.

Antonio Paris, an astronomer at St. Petersburg College in Florida, recently published a paper in the Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences saying the mysterious "Wow! signal," a truly bizarre radio signal detected almost 40 years ago, seems to match up with the location of a comet called 266P/Christensen that hadn't been cataloged at the time. (The comet was discovered more recently, in 2006. Originally, Paris' hypothesis was that a second comet might also be the culprit, one called P/2008 Y Gibbs.) Explanations for the Wow! signal have ranged from intermittent natural phenomena, to secret spy satellites, to, yes, aliens.

Others aren't so sure. "We do not believe the two-comets theory can explain the Wow! signal," Jerry Ehman, the astronomer who discovered the Wow! signal in 1977, told Live Science. [5 Times We Thought We Found Aliens]

The Wow! signal's name comes from just how striking and strange it was. The radio signal appeared on the night of Aug. 15, 1977, when it was picked up by the Big Ear radio telescope at The Ohio State University. It lasted 72 seconds. It was "loud" more intense than anything in the background sky that night. It was also a narrow-bandwidth signal; the range of frequencies it covered was small, similar to those of artificial signals. AM radio, for example, has channels that are only 10,000 cycles above or below the designated frequency on the dial. Further, the signal was at a frequency of about 1,420 megahertz (MHz), also called the 21-centimter line. That's the same frequency as radio waves emitted by neutral hydrogen gas in space. It's a region that is relatively free of noise from other objects, and one researchers involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence have been interested in for a long time because it could be used for interstellar transmissions.

The signal did not repeat, and subsequent attempts to find it proved fruitless. Ehman marked "Wow!" in red pen on a printout that shows the numbers representing the signal.

Back in 1977, the now-dismantled Big Ear telescope was looking for alien signals, in an early iteration of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI. But no one expected to see anything like the Wow! signal, and the Big Ear telescope heard nothing like it again.

Without a repeat signal, it was impossible to tell what it was; even getting a precise location wasn't easy because the signal was short-lived. Ehman, now retired, told Live Science that, beyond a certain distance, it's hard to tell how far away a radio signal is coming from.

In his paper, Paris wrote that comets will, under certain conditions, emit radio waves from the gases that surround them as they zoom closer to the sun. According to the study, Comet 266P/Christensen was in about the right position on the right day in 1977. Paris first floated the idea in early 2016, and proposed a program of using radio telescopes to listen for the emission of such radio waves. [Face on a Comet: Ghostly Faces in Space]

The comet project had three phases. "The first phase was the hypothesis, which led to the second phase: Do comets emit 1,420 [MHz signals]? It appears yes, they do," Paris told Live Science.

In the third phase, set for 2018, Paris plans to explore the mechanisms of the emissions why comets should generate radio waves at that particular wavelength. Paris said little research has been done on the topic.

"There have been a handful of studies, but I suspect we are the first to specifically build a 10-meter radio telescope to specifically look at this type of solar system body," he said.

To see if a signal could have come from comets, Paris first used a radio telescope to look at the sky in the region of the Wow! signal. With this step, he wanted to see what the background looked like at the relevant frequency. He also checked two other comets to be sure that they did, in fact, emit radio signals at the 1,420-MHz frequency, and found that they did.

Then, in January, Paris directed the radio telescope to point at Comet 266P/Christensen as it passed through the region of the sky where the Wow! signal was seen. (Comet 266P/Christensen has an orbital period of about 6.65 years, and its apparent location in the sky will vary depending on where Earth is in its own orbit around the sun. The comet passed near, but not exactly, where the Wow! signal was about 2 degrees north of the Wow! signal location.

Yet several astronomers, including Ehman, think Paris is wrong about the comet. Ehman looked at Paris' study with Robert Dixon, who directs the radio observatory at The Ohio State University (Big Ear was destroyed in 1997). Two big issues are that the signal didn't repeat, and it appeared for such a short time. Ehman noted that the Big Ear telescope had two "feed horns," each of which provides a slightly different field of view for a radio telescope. [5 Huge Misconceptions about Aliens]

"We should have seen the source come through twice in about 3 minutes: one response lasting 72 seconds and a second response for 72 seconds following within about a minute and a half," Ehman told Live Science. "We didn't see the second one."

The only way that can happen, he said, is if the signal was cut off abruptly. A comet wouldn't produce that kind of signal, because the gases that surround them cover large, diffuse areas. Nor would the comet have escaped from the radio telescope's field of view that fast.

But Ehman isn't convinced it's aliens, either. There are many phenomena that show sudden appearances and disappearances of radio signals, including fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are mysterious radio bursts with hotly-debated astrophysical origins that generate irregular signals that last only milliseconds. If the the Big Ear picked up only the tail end of such an emission, the data could look similar to the Wow! signal, Ehman speculated.

"The issue with the feed horns is something no one can explain, including me," Paris said. "There is some data out there to suggest the issue is at the telescope end and not the phenomenon itself." So it's possible that the signal could have been caused by a glitch in the Big Ear telescope.

The other issue is the frequency of transmission. Paris said he has shown that comets can emit in that range, but Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, is skeptical. Shostak used to study emissions from neutral hydrogen in the 1,420-MHz range, and is less sure the emission would look right. Comets may not generate enough hydrogen to make a bright enough signal like Wow!.

"I don't think anyone ever found such emission from comets," Shostak told Live Science.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Comet Likely Didn't Cause Bizarre 'Wow!' Signal (But Aliens Might Have) - Live Science

The Tris Belford Realty Group U16 girls Belleville Comets played it cool at the 2017 Nepean Hotspurs Friendship soccer tournament last weekend in Ottawa.

Comets complied a perfect 4-and-0 slate, including a 1-0 win over the Russell Raiders in the gold medal match. Heidi LaCosta netted the tournament-winning goal.

Earlier, Comets overpowered OSU Power 7-1 on goals by LaCosta, with four, Anna Noronha, Peyton Barnabi and Morgan Hawley. In a 3-1 win over Ottawa City Blue, local snipers were Hawley, LaCosta and Noronha. Victoria Lippitt posted the clean sheet for Belleville in a scoreless draw with the West Ottawa Warriors.

Meanwhile, Comets continued to spread the message of the dangers of unanchored soccer goalposts at the tournament, which is fast becoming a trademark of their 2017 season. Together with competitors from other clubs at the Hotspurs tourney, Comets players marked goalposts with checkered tape in honour of #anchored4garrett.

Garrett Mills of Napanee was killed on May 12 when an unsecured soccer net collapsed on him while he was hanging out with friends at a local soccer field. He was 15.

Since then, Mills' father Dave Mills (a Quinte Broadcasting radio personality known as Buzz Collins) told Postmedia Network: I will make every effort in the days, weeks, months and years to come to ensure that this death was not in vain. It didn't have to happen.

Mills is working to raise awareness of the dangers of unanchored soccer goalposts and why they need to be secured at all times.

Originally posted here:

Comets cool the competition at Hotspurs tourney - Belleville Intelligencer

This image was taken during the 1999 Leonid meteor storm as part of NASA's Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Leonid MAC). The image was captured with a 28 mm camera.

Meteor showers occur when dust or particles from asteroids or comets enter Earth's atmosphere at very high speed. When they hit the atmosphere, meteors rub against air particles and create friction, heating the meteors. The heat vaporizes most meteors, creating what we call shooting stars.

While there are stray bits of stuff hitting Earth from all directions, there also are regularly timed "meteor showers" when astronomers can make better predictions about how many meteors will hit the Earth, and from what direction. The key difference is that meteor showers occur when the Earth plows into the trail of particles left behind by a comet or asteroid. Depending on where the trail of particles falls in a particular year, meteor showers can be more or less intense.

Astronomers sometimes even find new meteor showers, such as the case of the Camelopardalids in 2014. Initial predictions put the shower at up to 200 meteors per hour, but in reality, it ended up being a quiet shower for amateur astronomers. The shower became active after thedebris trail of Comet 209P/LINEARintersected with Earth. (The debris trail of comets can shift because of the influence of Jupiter, or other reasons.)

Most meteors become visible at around 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) up. Some large meteors splatter, causing a brighter flash called a fireball, which can often be seen during the day and heard up to 30 miles (48 km) away. On average, meteors can speed through the atmosphere at about 30,000 mph (48,280 kph) and reach temperatures of about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,648 degrees Celsius).

Most meteors are very small, some as tiny as a grain of sand, so they disintegrate in the air. Larger ones that reach the Earth's surface are calledmeteoritesand are rare.

Whether an object breaks apart depends on its composition, speed and angle of entry. A faster meteor at an oblique angle (slanting rather than straight-on) suffers greater stress. Meteors made of iron withstand the stress better than those of stone. Even an iron meteor will usually break up as the atmosphere becomes denser, around 5 to 7 miles up.

When meteorites do hit the ground, their speed is roughly half what it was upon entry, and they blast out craters 12 to 20 times their size. Craters on Earth form much as they would on the moon or any rocky planet. Smaller objects create bowl-shaped craters. Larger impacts cause a rebound that creates a central peak; slipping along the rim forms terraces. The largest impacts form basins in which multiple rebounds form several inner peaks.

Large meteors can explode above the surface, causing widespread damage from the blast and ensuing fire. This happened in 1908 over Siberia, in what's called theTunguska event.On June 30, 1908, across hundreds of miles, witnesses saw a ball of fire streak through the sky, suggesting the meteor entered the atmosphere at an oblique angle. It exploded, sending out hot winds and loud noises and shook the ground enough to break windows in nearby villages. Small particles blown into the atmosphere lit the night sky for several days. No meteorite was ever found, and for years many scientists thought the devastation was caused by a comet. Now, the prevailing theory holds that a meteor exploded just above the surface.

A similar event occurred overChelyabinsk, Russia, when a 17-meter rock exploded 12 to 15 miles above the Earth's surface on Feb. 15, 2013, damaging buildings and injuring more than 1,000 people. According to astatementby Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario in Canada, "The energy of the resulting explosion exceeded 470 kilotons of TNT" 30 to 40 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.

Although the Russian event brought into focus the possible danger Earth could suffer from space rocks, most meteors don't cause nearly as much damage. Still, NASA and other entities keep careful track of all asteroids visible from Earth, and are actively engaged in discovering as many asteroids as possible especially the ones that are larger and would pose more of a (theoretical) threat to Earth. Asteroid orbits are plotted and tracked to see if they will intersect with Earth in the future. While no imminently threatening object has been found, NASA continues the search and posts the results publicly on theSmall Body Database Browser.

This view of comet Halley's nucleus was obtained by the Halley Multicolour Camera (HMC) on board the Giotto spacecraft, as it passed within 600 km of the comet nucleus on March 13, 1986.

In ancient times, objects in the night sky conjured superstition and were associated with gods and religion. But misunderstandings about meteors lasted longer than they did about most other celestial objects.

Meteorites (the pieces that make it to Earth) were long ago thought to be cast down as gifts from angels. Others thought the gods were displaying their anger. As late as the 17th century, many believed they fell from thunderstorms (they were nicknamed "thunderstones"). Many scientists were skeptical that stones could fall from thecloudsorthe heavens, and often they simply didn't believe the accounts of people who claimed to have seen such things.

In 1807, a fireball exploded over Connecticut, and several meteorites rained down. By then the first handful of asteroids had been discovered, and a new theory emerged suggesting meteorites were broken bits off asteroids or other planets. (A theory that still holds.)

The largest meteorite recovered in the United States fell in a wheat field in southern Nebraska in 1948. Witnesses saw a giant fireball in the afternoon that some said was brighter than the sun. The meteorite was found buried 10 feet deep in the ground. It weighed 2,360 pounds.

The most famous meteorite crater in the United States is misnamed Meteor Crater. It's in Arizona, and it's huge. The rim rises 150 feet from the surrounding plain, and the hole is 600 feet deep and nearly a mile wide. It was the first crater that was proven to be caused by a meteorite impact, which occurred between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Meteors are often seen falling from the sky alone one here, one there. But there are certain times in a year when dozens or even hundreds of meteors per hour will light up the sky, seemingly coming from one part of the sky, radiating in all directions, and falling toward Earth one after the other.

There are several periodic meteor showers thatastronomers and amateur observerswait for every year. Meteor showers are named after the constellations from where the shower appears to be coming from. For example, the Orionids appear to originate from the mighty Orion constellation, while Perseid meteors seem to be coming from the Perseus constellation.

Leonids:The brightest and most impressive is theLeonid meteor shower, which can produce a meteor storm that showers the sky with thousands of meteors per minute at its peak. In fact, the term "meteor shower" was coined after astronomers' observed one of Leonids' most impressive displays in 1833. The Leonids occur every November, but the shower's most beautiful display happens at intervals of about 33 years, with the last one lighting Earth's sky in 2002; it is not expected to be repeated until 2028. [Amazing Leonid Meteor Shower Photos]

Perseids:Another shower that is worth keeping awake for is thePerseid meteor shower, which is associated with thecomet Swift-Tuttle, which takes 133 years to orbit the sun. Earth passes through the comet's orbit during the month of August every year. It is not as active as the Leonids, but it is the most widely watched meteor shower of the year, peaking on Aug. 12 with more than 60 meteors per minute.

Orionids:TheOrionid meteor showerproduces meteors fromHalley's comet, which orbits the sun every 75 to 76 years. The Orionid shower happens every October and can last for a week, treating patient observers to a show of 50 to 70 shooting stars per hour at its peak. [Orionid Meteor Shower Sparks Bright Fireballs (Video)]

Quadrantids:TheQuadrantid meteor showercomes from the debris of an asteroid called 2003 EH1, which some astronomers think was part of a comet that broke apart centuries ago. The debris enters Earth's atmosphere in early January and offers astronomers and other observers a brief show. [Spectacular Quadrantid Meteor Photos]

Richard Hay sends this image of a Quadrantid meteor and says: "My wife and I ventured out into the frigid 26-degree Florida night this morning to catch the shower with our own eyes, and [were] rewarded with about 20 or so bright Quadrantids over a 90 minute period."

Geminids:Like the Quadrantids, theGeminid meteor showeralso came from dust particles of an asteroid, this time a near-earth asteroid called 3200 Phaeton. Meteor showers are mostly from comets, so having an asteroid as parents make the Quadrantids and Geminids different from other meteor showers. The Geminids happen in December and spray up to 40 meteors per hour out of the Gemini constellation at its peak.

Other meteor showers to watch out for are theEta Aquarids, also remnants of Halley's comet, in May;and theLyrids, which have been chronicled for more than 2,000 years, in late April.

People living in the Northern Hemisphere are in the best position to observe the most beautiful meteor showers. For example, North America is right below the region of the sky where the January Quadrantids shower appears.

A bright moon can dim the prospect of seeing a good meteor shower, drowning out all but the brightest meteors. Local light pollution dampens prospects, too, so the best place to view a meteor shower is from out in a rural location.

Most meteor showers are best viewed in the pre-dawn hours, when the part of Earth you are standing on is facing the direction of Earth's orbit. It's like bugs hitting a car's windshield. In the late evening hours, on the other hand, the meteors are less frequent loosely akin to bugs hitting a car's rear bumper.

Meteor showers can be seen at different times of the year depending on when Earth is going to pass through the comet's or asteroid's path. Some meteor showers happen annually; others only appear over a period of several years, while some of the best shows meteor storms happen just once or twice in a lifetime.

Weather can also hamper a good view of meteor showers. A clear sky is a gift to night gazers, which is why meteor showers during the summer are more anticipated than those that fall in the winter months.

Additional reporting by Nola Taylor Redd and Elizabeth Howell, Space.com contributors

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Meteor Showers and Shooting Stars: Formation, Facts and Discovery - Space.com

Comets are like time capsules, telling us what conditions around the Sun were like when the Earth was first forming. Some, like Halley's comet, are regular visitors to our skies, while others have only been seen once in human history, and may only return every several hundred thousand years.

One astronomical unit, or AU, is equal to the distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is 150 million km; or 93 million miles.

Comets are like dirty snowballs, made mainly of ice and frozen carbon dioxide with some dust and organic molecules, left over from the formation of the Solar System. They're like "time capsules," telling us what conditions were like in our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago, when the Sun and planets were first forming.

Comets were born in the icy outer regions of our Solar System. Occasionally, one will make its way in towards the Sun. As itstarts to get close to the Sun, the comet warms up, and the ice, carbon dioxide and dust that are trapped inside start to evaporate, bursting out of the comet in bright jets.

The solid part of the comet is called the nucleus. As the nucleus starts to evaporate,a coma, or cloud of this dust and gas, surrounds the nucleus. As more gas and dust are lost, the comet then forms a tail that is pushed away from the Sun by the pressure of sunlight. This dust tail is easily spotted with infrared telescopes, and it traces the comet's curved orbital path.

Comet Siding Spring is a great example of this: the dusty tail glows in the infrared, curving along its orbital path. The comet and its dust tail appear red because they are more than ten times colder than the bright blue stars in the background.

About once every ten years, a comet comes with a tail so bright that we can even see it with the naked eye. Astronomers hope that Comet ISON, due to swing past the Sun in late 2013, will put on a spectacular show. If it doesn't break up under the pressure of gases forcing their way out of the nucleus, it could look as bright as the moon, and may even be visible during the day.

Comets often form a second tail, called the ion tail, or gas tail. As the name suggests, it is made of ionized gas, which also gets blown away by the Solar wind, and always points directly away from the Sun. Comet Hale-Bopp was a bright comet that had two very distinct tails. The white dust tail and the blue ion tail could be seen pointing in slightly different directions - the blue ion tail pointing directly away from the Sun, and the white dust tail following the curve of the comet's orbit.

Astronomers believe that comets formed in both the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt. The Oort Cloud is a vast, spherical shell of icy bodies left over from the cloud of gas and dust that formed the Sun, which surrounds the Solar System at a distance between 5,000 and 100,000 astronomical units (AU) away. Comets that come from the Oort Cloud are long period comets, which only come near the Sun for short periods of time, every few thousand years. They trace out large eccentric, or egg shaped orbits rather than circular orbits. Astronomers estimate that there could be as many as a trillion comets out in the Oort cloud.

Halley's Comet last visted the Earth in 1986. Can you calculate when it will next be back? How old will you be then?

Comets that orbit the Sun at much closer distances are called short-period comets and swing past the Sun more regularly. They are thought to have been formed in the Kuiper belt - a disk of icy worlds and rocky bodies that rings the Solar System at the orbit of Pluto and beyond.Comets that have been seen more than once in human history, like Halley's Comet (which visits the inner Solar System every 75-76 years), are all short-period comets.

Infrared light is very important for measuring the size of a comet. When we observe a comet in visible light, we see the light that the comet reflects from the Sun. Because of that, a large, dark comet can appear to be the same size as a small, highly reflective comet. In infrared light, however, a comet's brightness depends upon the amount of heat it absorbs from the Sun and re-radiates back into space. A bigger comet has a bigger surface area, so it gives off more heat and looks brighter in the infrared. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across, but their tails can stretch for millions of kilometers.

Comets are mainly made up from water and carbon dioxide ice, but the small amounts of dust can tell us a lot about the early solar system. Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Deep Impact mission put together a recipe for comet "soup" -- the primordial stuff of planets, comets, and other bodies in our Solar System.

These "comet soup" ingredients are pictured: (in the back from left to right) a cup of ice and a cup of dry ice; (in measuring cups in the middle row from left to right) olivine, smectite clay, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, spinel, metallic iron; (in the front row from left to right) the silicate enstatite, the carbonate dolomite, and the iron sulfide marcasite.

The comet ingredients were excavated from Comet Tempel 1 in 2005, when Deep Impact's probe plunged below the comet's surface. While Deep Impact was busy collecting data up close, other telescopes around the world were also watching from the ground and space.

Spitzer observed the dramatic event using its infrared spectrograph, an instrument that breaks apart light like a prism, allowing astronomers to pick out chemical signatures that appear between the wavelengths of 5 and 38 microns. Spitzer detected clays; iron-containing compounds; carbonates, the minerals in seashells; crystallized silicates, such as the green olivine minerals; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon-containing compounds found in car exhaust and on burnt toast. Hints of the mineral found in the reddish-brown gem spinel were also observed.

Deep Impact's spectrometer also picked up the signatures of additional molecules within the wavelength range of 1 to 5 microns, including water vapor and carbon dioxide gas (the swirling vapor that comes off "dry ice").

Our Solar System is not the only place to find comets in the Universe. Spitzer has revealed the telltale signature of comet dust around other stars. The silicate mineral, olivine, in the form of forsterite, was detected in the dust around a star called HD 69830, and found to match the dust seen in Comet Hale-Bopp.

Forsterite is a bright green gem found on Earth, on the green sand beaches of Hawaii, among other places. Olivine is one of the main ingredients of the Earth's interior. You might even say that we live on a congealed pile of mineral dust, like the dust contained in the comets that swarmed around the Sun 4500 million years ago. That same mineral dust is now seen around other stars, like HD 69830.

Evidence for comets has even been seen around dying stars. The Helix Nebula is one of the most famous images from Spitzer, showing a dying star unraveling its outer layers out into space. The bright pink glow in the center is the combined ultraviolet and infrared glow of a dusty disk encircling the fading star, most likely kicked up from comets that survived its final death throes. Before the star died, its comets, and possibly planets, would have orbited the star in an orderly fashion, much like our own Solar System today. When the star ran out of hydrogen to burn, and blew off its outer layers, the icy comets would have been tossed about and into each other, kicking up an ongoing cosmic dust storm.

For more on how stars die, see Star Death.

As comets are relics from the protosolar nebula (before the Sun was a star), they played a major role in the formation of the planets. According to some theories, a substantial fraction of our oceans may have formed from the ice of comets that bombarded the Earth. Other theories suggest that carbon compounds contained in comets may have contributed raw materials for the origin of life on the Earth. Understanding more about the composition and behavior of these icy time capsules is therefore crucial for a fuller understanding of our cosmic origins.

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Comets | Cool Cosmos

Xenon delivery service

ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM, CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

By Leah Crane

The origin of the xenon in Earths atmosphere has been a mystery for decades. Now, using data from the Rosetta spacecrafts tight orbits around a comet, researchers have determined that 22 per cent came from comets. This strengthens suspected connections between these celestial bodies and Earths evolution.

The xenon gas in Earths atmosphere contains more heavy isotopes than xenon in the solar wind or meteoroids, and for decades researchers couldnt figure out where this heavy component came from. The idea that it could have been brought here by comets was often suggested, but evidence was limited.

In 2014, the Rosetta spacecraft orbited the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko mere kilometres from the surface, allowing it to sample the gas coming off the comets ice patches. Bernard Marty at the University of Lorraine in France and his colleagues found that those gases closely matched the composition of Earths heavy xenon.

The Earths atmospheric xenon is a mixture between meteoritic and cometary, and we know the composition of each now, says Marty. So we mix them, we make up a cocktail, until we find the taste of the atmosphere.

The cocktail that best matched our atmosphere was about 22 per cent cometary xenon, with the rest of the xenon coming from meteors. Its a nice, elegant explanation for xenon in the atmosphere, something which has eluded geochemists to date, says Colin Jackson at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

However, this does assume that all comets are similar to 67P. This is based on measurements on this one comet, and the study of materials in the solar system always emphasises how diverse chemistry is throughout the solar system, says Jackson

Should the type of xenon on 67P prove to be representative of a large group of comets, it also has larger implications for Earths evolution.

In addition to matching the heavy components of xenon in Earths atmosphere, the comet samples also had a surprising amount of a particular type of the gas, xenon-129.

On Earth, we presumed the presence of this isotope was primarily a result of decaying iodine. We know the rate at which iodine decays, so we use the quantity of xenon-129 to gauge the time at which planetary events took place. But if 22 per cent of the xenon in Earths atmosphere was transported by comets, models based on iodine decay arent accurate. They overestimate the age of Earths atmosphere and the moon.

Looking at Earths mantle gives us a hint as to when our xenon delivery must have occurred, and it means comets would have had a difficult job to reach us. The mantle doesnt contain the cometary signature of xenon, so the xenon in the modern atmosphere must have been delivered after the mantle stopped incorporating gases from the atmosphere. At that time, 4.5 to 3.5 billion years ago, comets would have had to navigate a treacherous solar system to get here.

Astronomers think Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus formed a kind of barrier between the inner and outer parts of the solar system. Their gravitational fields would have attracted small bodies, like these xenon-laden comets, lowering their chances of making it to Earth.

But comets are from the outer solar system, and now we know they came to Earth, says Marty. He says if the orbits of the giant planets changed at some point 100 million years or more after the solar system began to form, which some theories have suggested that they did, they could have allowed some comets through toward Earth.

Those comets could have brought with them not just xenon, but also the volatile elements crucial for life, like hydrogen and nitrogen. The inner solar system was probably too hot for these elements to survive the cloud of dust and gas from which Earth was formed, so its long been postulated that at least some portion was delivered after the planets formation by comets.

This new evidence that our planet was visited by comets relatively early in its formation could strengthen the connection between comets and Earths hospitality to life. Comets could have potentially carried a lot of organic molecules out to Earth, says Marty. It doesnt mean that comets brought life, but they could have brought the bricks of life.

Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.aal3496

Read more: Our atmosphere came from outer space

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The mystery xenon in Earths atmosphere came from icy comets ...

June 8, 2017 Credit: University of Bern

The difficult yet successful measurement of several isotopes of the noble gas xenon on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko using the Bernese instrument ROSINA on the Rosetta probe shows that materials arrived on Earth due to comet impacts. As proven by further Bern measurements of silicon isotopes, in the beginning our solar system was extremely heterogeneous. The high amount of so-called "heavy" water also shows that cometary ice is older than our solar system.

Xenon is a colourless, odourless gas that makes up far less than one millionth of the volume of the entire earth's atmosphere. As a noble gas, it rarely reacts with other elements and thus has a relatively stable atomic state. It is therefore a relatively accurate representation of the conditions that existed during the formation of our solar system. Xenon can also help to answer the age-old question about comets: does material on Earth come from comet impacts and if so, to what extent?

A research team led by Kathrin Altwegg at the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern was able to show that the xenon composition on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is very similar to the "indigenous xenon" first posited 40 years ago, which arrived on our planet from beyond shortly after the formation of our solar system. These measurements, which will now be published in Science, show that around one fifth of indigenous xenon originates from comets. This means that for the first time ever we can draw a quantitative link between comets and the earth's atmosphere.

Stellar fingerprint

Xenon is formed in many different stellar processes, including supernova explosions. Each of these phenomena leads to a typical distribution of xenon isotopes, a specific "fingerprint". Due to its many isotopes from various stellar processes, xenon gives an important indication of indigenous materials that make up our solar system. Xenon isotopes were measured in Earth's and Mars' atmospheres, in meteorites originating from asteroids, on Jupiter and in solar wind the flow of charged particles from the sun. The composition of xenon in the earth's atmosphere has more heavy than light isotopes, as light isotopes can escape the earth's gravitational field into space. By correcting this effect, researchers in the 1970s calculated the original composition of this noble gas, the so-called indigenous xenon that once dominated the earth's atmosphere. This indigenous xenon contains far fewer heavy isotopes and the composition of the light isotopes is equal to that of xenon coming from asteroids and the sun. It was therefore believed that indigenous xenon in the earth's early atmosphere had a different origin compared to the at the time observed objects in the solar system. This is now confirmed by ROSINA measurements on the Rosetta probe at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, an icy "fossil" from the early solar system.

Difficult mission

"The search for xenon on comets was probably one of the most important and most difficult measurements by ROSINA", says Kathrin Altwegg, ROSINA project leader at the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern. "The fact that we have solved a part of a 40-year old mystery in doing so makes it all the more rewarding". Xenon is extremely rare in the already thin atmosphere of the comet. The Rosetta probe thus had to fly really close to the comet for weeks 7 to 10 km from the centre so that ROSINA could pick up sufficient signal for a clear measurement of the seven most common isotopes. The risk with this was that the dense cloud of dust surrounding the comet could have tripped the probe's navigation system. ROSINA managed to identify seven xenon isotopes as well as various other noble gases. Analysis of the data showed that the cometary xenon that was frozen during the formation of the comet differs from the composition found in the solar system as well as from the composition found today in the earth's atmosphere. The composition of the cometary xenon is most likely equal to that of the posited indigenous xenon in Earth's early atmosphere. However, there are certain differences between both compositions which leads researchers to believe that the original xenon comes partly from comets and partly from asteroids: "For the first time we were able to establish a quantitative link between comets and our earth's atmosphere according to which 22 percent of the earth's original, atmospheric xenon originates from comets, whilst the rest comes from asteroids" summarises Altwegg.

No contradiction to water

These findings do not contradict ROSINA's isotope measurement in the water on the comet which was significantly different to that of indigenous water. As xenon is only available in traces in the atmosphere whilst Earth contains vast quantities of water in the oceans and atmosphere, comets could have definitely contributed to the xenon found on Earth without changing the indigenous water too much. "The xenon findings also support the idea that organic material came to Earth through comets such as phosphorous and the amino acid glycine which were both found on the comet by ROSINA which was potentially crucial for the evolution of life on Earth" says Altwegg. Ultimately, the difference between the cometary xenon and the xenon found in the solar system indicates that the so-called protosolar nebula that lead to the formation of the sun, planets and small bodies, was a chemically rather heterogeneous place. "This supports earlier measurements by ROSINA such as the unexpected discovery of molecular oxygen (O2) or molecular sulphur (S2)" says Altwegg.

Second publication confirms findings

In another publication, a research group led by Martin Rubin (CSH) was able to show that silicon on the comet does not show the average isotope ratio of our solar system. The ROSINA data thus shows that material from the early solar system originates from various predecessor stars. As with xenon, this means that the chemical composition of the early solar system was heterogeneous, thus not "uniformly" mixed as previously believed. The second publication appears in Astronomy and Astrophysics. ROSINA had already discovered silicon atoms in the gas envelope of the comet early in the mission. These silicon atoms were sputtered off of the surface of the comet by the impacting solar wind. A precise analysis by Martin Rubin from the CSH has now shown that silicon isotopes also exhibit an anomaly when compared with solar silicon. The heavy silicon isotopes are less common in comparison to the mix found near the sun and meteorites. This suggests that comets are formed in an area of the protosolar nebula that shows a non-solar chemical composition and thus has potentially taken on material from another star or supernova in the vicinity.

Even cometary water comes from beyond

A third publication also published recently proves definitively with the use of hydrogen isotopes that cometary water so-called "heavy" water (D2O) was formed before the formation of the solar system and was frozen as pre-solar ice in comets. These findings were published in a special edition of "Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society, London".

"Our findings in all three studies have fulfilled the main aim of the Rosetta mission, namely to find quantitative indication of the formation of the earth and our solar system for the first time" says Altwegg.

More information: Marty, B., Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D., Berthelier, J.-J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S. A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T. I., Hansen, K. C., Hssig, M., Jckel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Rme, H., Rubin, M., Smon, T., Tzou, C.-Y., Waite, J. H., and Wurz, P.: Xenon isotopes in Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show comets contributed to Earth's atmosphere, Science, science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aal3496

Rubin, M., Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Berthelier, J.-J., Bieler, A., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Engrand, C., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S. A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T. I., Hansen, K. C., Hssig, M., Le Roy, L., Mezger, K., Tzou, C.-Y., Wampfler, S. F., and Wurz, P.: Depletion of the heavy silicon isotopes measured at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Astron. Astrophys., 17 May 2017, DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201730584.

Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Berthelier, J.-J., Bieler, A., Calmonte, U., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S. A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T. I., Owen, T., Le Roy, L., Rubin, M., Smon, T., and Tzou, C.-Y.: D2O and HDS in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, [Cometary science after Rosetta, Editors: Geraint Jones, Matthew Knight, Alan Fitzsimmons and Matt Taylor, Online, May 2017], in press.

Provided by: University of Bern

May 18, 2017

Scientists have revealed that some of Earth's atmosphere may have been brought to the planet by comets billions of years ago.

May 27, 2016

An important amino acid called glycine has been detected in a comet for the first time, supporting the theory that these cosmic bodies delivered the ingredients for life on Earth, researchers said Friday.

Sep 30, 2016

NASA's Curiosity rover has found evidence that chemistry in the surface material on Mars contributed dynamically to the makeup of its atmosphere over time. It's another clue that the history of the Red Planet's atmosphere ...

Apr 01, 2015

NASA's Curiosity rover is using a new experiment to better understand the history of the Martian atmosphere by analyzing xenon.

Mar 20, 2015

ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has made the first measurement of molecular nitrogen at a comet, providing clues about the temperature environment in which Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko formed.

Sep 29, 2016

Scientists began saying their final farewells to the Rosetta space probe Thursday, hours before its planned crash-landing on a comet, but said that data collected during the mission would provide discoveries for many years ...

Continue reading here:

Relation between comets and earth's atmosphere uncovered

There are many people who have seen the Halifax County High School baseball teams practice jerseys with TEAM 206 written on them.

TEAM 206 represents the 206 miles from Halifax County High School to the site of todays Virginia High School League 5A State Baseball Tournament semi-final game at Westfield High School in Chantilly where the Comets will face Prince George High School at 10 a.m. with a berth in Saturdays state championship game on the line.

It has served as a constant reminder and an inspiration to Comets players of the goal of the state championship that was established long ago.

Growing up, this is what weve talked about, said Comets senior Holt Powell.

It has definitely made us play for something bigger than just ourselves. I really think it has driven our whole season to play toward this one goal.

Weve done it, Powell added of his team reaching the state tournament.

Now, weve got to get it done Friday and Saturday.

Comets sophomore third baseman and pitcher Drew Harlow said he and his teammates want the shirts to carry more significance by winning the state championship.

We want to make these shirts worth something, Harlow pointed out.

We hung them up (in the dugout) during the regional (semi-final) game to give us support and keep the goal in front of us.

This weekend is a big one for Halifax County High School baseball. This is the sixth time a Comets baseball team has made it to the Final Four in the state. The last time it happened was in 2001.

Its exciting to see that were definitely going to the state tournament, Harlow remarked.

Im confident were going to do well. Were just going to go and play our regular game.

That, says Comets Head Coach Kenneth Day, is all he wants his players to do.

Were approaching it as just another game, Day said of this mornings state semi-final game against Prince George High School.

Were going to focus on us, and hopefully we will do some good things, and it all will turn out on the good side for us.

Its good to get this far, he added, but weve still got two games to play. We dont want to just go up there and show up. We want to go up there and play and win two ballgames.

Day said he knows his team will be facing a quality opponent this morning in Prince George High School.

Weve got a huge task at hand, he pointed out.

Were playing a quality team. If we dont bring our A game, were going to be in trouble just like every other game weve played this season.

The Comets, 20-3 overall entering todays state semi-final game, have faced quality opponents this season and have proven they can win in pressure-packed situations. That, Day says, will help carry the team in the state tournament.

Having played close games and playing in pressure situations will help all of the kids in the long run, Day noted.

Its going to help us Friday and Saturday.

The Comets have had a good week of practice getting themselves prepared for todays game and will be ready for todays task.

Weve just been refining what weve been doing all along, just being us, Day said.

There is nothing special weve done. There is nothing new weve done. Were just going to go up there and play, do our best and see what happens.

Read more from the original source:

It's 206 miles to today's state tournament; Comets seek to return ... - YourGV.com

The challenging detection, by ESA's Rosetta mission, of several isotopes of the noble gas xenon at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has established the first quantitative link between comets and the atmosphere of Earth. The blend of xenon found at the comet closely resembles U-xenon, the primordial mixture that scientists believe was brought to Earth during the early stages of Solar System formation.

These measurements suggest that comets contributed about one fifth the amount of xenon in Earth's ancient atmosphere. Xenon - a colourless, odourless gas which makes up less than one billionth of the volume of Earth's atmosphere - might hold the key to answer a long-standing question about comets: did they contribute to the delivery of material to our planet when the Solar System was taking shape, some 4.6 billion years ago? And if so, by how much?

The noble gas xenon is formed in a variety of stellar processes, from the late phases of low- and intermediate-mass stars to supernova explosions and even neutron star mergers. Each of these phenomena gives rise to different isotopes of the element. As a noble gas, xenon does not interact with other chemical species, and is therefore an important tracer of the material from which the Sun and planets originated, which in turns derives from earlier generations of stars.

"Xenon is the heaviest stable noble gas and perhaps the most important because of its many isotopes that originate in different stellar processes: each one provides an additional piece of information about our cosmic origins," says Bernard Marty from CRPG-CNRS and Universite de Lorraine, France. Bernard is the lead author of a paper reporting Rosetta's discovery of xenon at Comet 67P/C-G, which is published in Science.

It is because of this special 'fingerprint' that scientists have been using xenon to investigate the composition of the early Solar System, which provides important clues to constrain its formation. Over the past decades, they sampled the relative abundances of its various isotopes at different locations: in the atmosphere of Earth and Mars, in meteorites deriving from asteroids, at Jupiter, and in the solar wind - the flow of charged particles streaming from the Sun.

The blend of xenon present in the atmosphere of our planet contains a higher abundance of heavier isotopes with respect to the lighter ones; however, this is a result of lighter elements escaping more easily from Earth's gravitational pull and being lost to space in greater amounts. By correcting the atmospheric composition of xenon for this runaway effect, scientists in the 1970s calculated the composition of the primordial mixture of this noble gas, known as U-xenon, that was once present on Earth.

This U-xenon contained a similar mix of light isotopes to that of asteroids and the solar wind, but included significantly smaller amounts of the heavier isotopes.

"For these reasons, we have long suspected that xenon in the early atmosphere of Earth could have a different origin from the average blend of this noble gas found in the Solar System," says Bernard.

One of the explanations is that Solar System xenon derives directly from the protosolar cloud, a mass of gas and dust that gave rise to the Sun and planets, while the xenon found in the Earth's atmosphere was delivered at a later stage by comets, which in turn might have formed from a different mix of material.

With ESA's Rosetta mission visiting Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, an icy fossil of the early Solar System, scientists could finally gather the long-sought data to test this hypothesis.

"Searching for xenon at the comet was one of the most crucial and challenging measurements we performed with Rosetta," says Kathrin Altwegg from the University of Bern, Switzerland, principal investigator of ROSINA, the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis, which was used for this study.

Xenon is very diffuse in the comet's thin atmosphere, so the navigation team had to fly Rosetta very close - 5 km to 8 km from the surface of the nucleus - for a period of three weeks so that ROSINA could obtain a significant detection of all the relevant isotopes.

Flying so close to the comet was extremely challenging because of the large amount of dust that was lifting off the surface at the time, which could confuse the star trackers that were used to orient the spacecraft.

Eventually, the Rosetta team decided to perform this operation in the second half of May 2016. This period was chosen as a compromise so that enough time would have passed after the comet's perihelion, in August 2015, for the dust activity to be less intense, but not too much for the atmosphere to be excessively thin and the presence of xenon hard to detect.

As a result of the observations, ROSINA identified seven isotopes of xenon, as well as several isotopes of another noble gas, krypton; these brought to three the inventory of noble gases found at Rosetta's comet, following the discovery of argon from measurements performed in late 2014.

"These measurements required a long stretch of dedicated time solely for ROSINA, and it would have been very disappointing if we hadn't detected xenon at Comet 67P/C-G, so I'm really glad that we succeeded in detecting so many isotopes," adds Kathrin.

Further analysis of the data revealed that the blend of xenon at Comet 67P/C-G, which contains larger amounts of light isotopes than heavy ones, is quite different from the average mixture found in the Solar System. A comparison with the on-board calibration sample confirmed that the xenon detected at the comet is also different from the current mix in the Earth's atmosphere.

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Rosetta finds comet connection to Earth's atmosphere - Space Daily

The risk is growing that Earth will be hit by an asteroid from a meteor stream known as the Taurids, according to stargazers.

NASA has revealed a terrifying animation of a swarm of comets and asteroids circling our planet.

The pictures come from the space agencys asteroid hunting mission, the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or Neowise for short.

NASA issued the chilling warning that 10 new potentially hazardous asteroids have been discovered in the past year, along with 96 other newly spotted space rocks in our midst.

Scientists who have been analysing the data said they have seen an unexplained increase in comet activity, too.

The risk is growing that Earth will be hit by an asteroid from a meteor stream known as the Taurids, according to astronomers from the Czech Academy of Science.

They have detected a new branch with at least two asteroids measuring 200-300m in diameter.

Most probably, the branch also includes many undetected asteroids which are dozens of metres in diameter or larger, the Czech Academy said in a press release.

Hence, the danger of a crash with an asteroid grows markedly once every few years that the Earth encounters this stream of interplanetary material.

The new branch moves together around the sun, and the Earth encounters it once every few years for a period of about three weeks.

During this period, the probability of a collision with a larger object (of about dozens of metres in diameter) is markedly higher, the Academy said.

This animation shows asteroids and comets observed in infrared by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission. Courtesy: NASA

The asteroids are very fragile, but when they are this large they may penetrate deep into the atmosphere and pose a real threat of collision with Earth.

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of the planets in our solar system into orbits that allow them to enter Earths neighbourhood.

Ten of the objects discovered by Nasas Neowise in the past year have been classified as potentially hazardous asteroids, based on their size and their orbits.

Its found 693 NEOs since the mission was restarted in December 2013. Of these, 114 are new.

Asteroid impact is a legitimate threat to Earth, scientists warn.Source:The Advertiser

Neowise is not only discovering previously uncharted asteroids and comets, but it is providing excellent data on many of those already in the catalogue, said Amy Mainzer, Neowise principal investigator from Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

It is also proving to be an invaluable tool in the refining and perfecting of techniques for NEO discovery and characterisation by a space-based infra-red observatory.

There are several known asteroids that pose a risk.

The Shard-sized 2015 BN509 which flew past Earth in February could return with a vengeance, scientists have warned.

NASA and the European Space Agency want to ram into an asteroid in a bid to save humanity from a Deep Impact-style catastrophe.

They want to see whether its possible to deflect a space rock from its course as part of a planetary defence mission.

This article originally appeared on The Sun.

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NASA comet swarm image released - News.com.au - NEWS.com.au

Local Sports

Jun 10, 2017

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW second baseman Samantha Ubben, left, gives chase as Marshalltowns Bridget Carroll breaks for third during the second inning of Fridays game at the BCLUW Comet Softball Invitational Tournament in Conrad. Carroll advanced to third base safely and eventually scored, but the Bobcats fell to the host Comets, 4-3.

CONRAD Ten days after leading the BCLUW girls golf team at the Class 2A state tournament, Lauren Anderson gave the Comet softball team a boost, too.

Anderson drove in the go-ahead run with her two-out single in the bottom of the sixth inning and then worked around a pair of singles in the seventh, helping the newly ranked Comets hold off Marshalltown 4-3 in Friday nights BCLUW Comet Invitational Tournament.

Andersons single through the right side of the infield glanced off Bobcat second baseman Bridget Carrolls glove, allowing Easton Swanson to score from second as the ball trickled onto the outfield grass. Finally finding the fairway after grounding out twice to the right side earlier in the game, Andersons hit put the Comets on top to stay.

We just battled, said BCLUW head coach Dave Lee. It was a grunt game.

Marshalltown (0-12) made as much noise as possible without scratching out the tying run in the top of the seventh. Leadoff batter Regan Mazour reached with a one-out bunt single, Madi Finch lined a single to left, and McKaylee Dawson moved them both into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltowns Bridget Carroll, right, slides head-first into home plate around the tag attempt by BCLUW catcher Kate Goecke during the second inning of Fridays softball game in Conrad.

MHS freshman Erica Johnson, already with one run-scoring single in the game, popped out to BCLUW second baseman Samantha Ubben in shallow center field to end the game.

Lauren did a good job sticking with it when it didnt seem we wanted to support her very much, said Lee.

The Bobcats showed plenty of mettle in playing stride-for-stride with the 15th-ranked Comets (11-4), but one costly error early in the contest may have changed the outcome.

Carrolls leadoff single in the second led to the games first run. Ciara Feldman sacrificed her over to second, and Carroll managed to avoid a rundown in safely advancing to third. Emily Hass struck out on a pitch that escaped Kate Goeckes glove, and the throw down to first base gave Carroll just enough time to sneak home ahead of the return throw.

Theyre athletic and they play in a 5A league, said Lee. They can defend and they can play. They put the ball down against and we didnt always react, but thats good for our kids.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltowns Regan Mazour, left, slides safely into third base under the tag by Sara Sharp with a stolen base in the fifth inning of their game Friday in Conrad. Mazour was 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, but the Bobcats lost 4-3.

Its really good for us to be able to learn those lessons and still win. We dont have to beat anybody bad, we just have to win.

BCLUW countered in kind, playing its style of small-ball to perfection. Swanson started with a leadoff walk, and Goecke doubled to right-center just out of Ciara Feldmans reach. Sara Sharps bunt plated Swanson without a play, but the throw to first base eluded Finch and flew down the right-field line. Goeckes courtesy runner Kiersten Kruse chased Swanson across the plate, and Olivia Hughes drove in Sharp with a grounder one out later.

We knew they were a small-ball team and they were, and they executed it pretty well, said MHS head coach Jim Palmer, and we failed to execute it, too. You can practice it all you want but until you get into a game and execute, its not the same. Sometimes tonight we just failed to make some of the plays.

Marshalltown had the answer, settling the table with back-to-back bunt singles by Aspen Chadderdon and Mazour. Two outs later, Johnson singled to right field to plate Chadderdon, and Mazour scored when Hughes throw from right field skipped past Jordyn Beeghly at first.

This was a good learning experience for us, said Lee. Marshalltown plays the game well, they just play in a league where they cant win.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Both teams missed opportunities to score before BCLUW eventually took the lead for good. Marshalltown popped up a bunt that turned into an inning-ending double play in the top of the fourth, and the Comets did the same in the bottom of the fifth.

It was one of a number of chances that got away from the Bobcats. Mazour singled and Finch walked to start the fifth, but Anderson got a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to escape the jam. Anderson finished with eight strikeouts and that one walk, scattering 10 hits across seven innings as well as can be done.

We left a lot of runners on base, said Palmer. Twice we had runners on third and second with one out. Twice we asked for someone to execute a bunt and unfortunately we just didnt get it done.

Dawson (0-7) allowed six hits and three walks, striking out three in the loss. Mazour finished 4-for-4 with two stolen bases but was left stranded three times. Finch, Johnson, Carroll, Feldman, Hass and Chadderdon accounted for the Bobcats other six singles.

[Dawson] did pretty good, Palmer said. She had a tough time finding the [strike] zone, but once she adjust to it she did a pretty good job. She wasnt getting ahead of batters and once she worked to get ahead in the count, then she was having much more success.

Goecke had two of BCLUWs six hits, while Leah Yantis, Bailey Ashton, Sharp and Anderson also singled.

Both teams return to action in BCLUWs tournament today. At 10 a.m., the Comets face Cedar Falls while Marshalltown meets Gladbrook-Reinbeck. The Bobcats wrap up their stay in Conrad with an 11:45 a.m. game against Sumner-Fredericksburg. BCLUW returns to the diamond for the tournament finale at 3:15 p.m. against 3A No. 13 Union Community.

BCLUW Comet Invitational

At Conrad

Fridays Games

Waterloo West 16, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 6

Sumner-Fredericksburg 5, Cedar Falls 4

BCLUW 4, Marshalltown 3

Saturdays Games

10 a.m. BCLUW vs. Cedar Falls; Marshalltown vs. Gladbrook-Reinbeck

11:45 a.m. Marshalltown vs. Sumner-Fredericksburg; Union vs. Waterloo West

1:30 p.m. Waterloo West vs. Sumner-Fredericksburg; Cedar Falls vs. Gladbrook-Reinbeck

3:15 p.m. BCLUW vs. Union

BCLUW 4, Marshalltown 3

At Conrad

MHS 012 000 0 3 10 2

BCLUW 030 001 X 4 6 2

McKaylee Dawson and Erica Johnson; Lauren Anderson and Kate Goecke. WAnderson (6-2). LDawson (0-7). 2BBCLUW: Goecke. LOBMHS 8, BCLUW 6.

GILMAN Cody Mead tossed a two-hit shutout and went 4-for-4 at the plate with his first home run of the year in ...

OTTUMWA The Bobcats left the door open, and Bulldogs blew it off the hinges. A combination of walks, errors ...

DES MOINES Scott McCarron broke through on the PGA Tour Champions circuit last season, rallying to win his ...

IOWA CITY University of Iowa junior Jake Adams was selected as a Baseball America third-team All-American, it ...

CONRAD Easton Swansons three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning set the tone as the BCLUW ...

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Comets run down Bobcats, 4-3 - Marshalltown Times Republican

DAMIAN MULINIX/For the Observer

Graduate Mariah Steenerson received congratulations from the crowd following the Naselle High School graduation on Saturday.

DAMIAN MULINIX/For the Observer

Class speaker Cameron Burch delivered his address at Saturdays Naselle High School graduation.

DAMIAN MULINIX/For the Observer

Raja Estes awaited her turn to enter the Lyle Patterson Gymnasium prior to the start of the Naselle High School graduation Saturday.

DAMIAN MULINIX/For the Observer

An excited Morgan Ridgeway waited to enter the Lyle Patterson Gymnasium prior to the start of the 2017 Naselle High School graduation Saturday.

DAMIAN MULINIX/For the Observer

Tye Johnson and other NHS seniors milled about before the start of the 2017 Naselle High School graduation Saturday.

NASELLE Stepping up to the microphone in the Lyle Patterson Gymnasium on June 3, Superintendent Lisa Nelson recognized retiring longtime teachers Bruce Wise and Scott Smith. Combined, the two have 68 years of teaching in the Naselle-Grays River Valley School District (NGRVSD).

Smith started teaching at the school at the beginning of Nelsons junior year and, according to Nelson, somehow managed to survive teaching her class. She drew a laugh by apologizing to Smith for TPing his house. It seemed like a good idea at the time to her and Susan (Swanson) Burkhalter, she said.

Following an appreciative round of applause for the two retirees, Nelson certified that the students seated behind her had met graduation requirements laid out by the state and the districts board of directors.

Therefore, said Nelson, with great pleasure, I present to you the graduating class of 2017.

With a joyful cheer, caps were thrown high into the air, as the 24 seniors closed one chapter in their lives and stepped into the next.

The ceremony

Once administrators, faculty and students entered to the bands playing of Pomp and Circumstance on Saturday afternoon. Valedictorian Raja Estes welcomed the audience. Then, using snake eggs as a metaphor, Faculty Speaker Scott Smith provided a wide-ranging and well-received message of guidance and hope for the graduating students.

Following Smith to the microphone, Class Speaker Cameron Burch provided an uplifting message about the opportunities awaiting the members of the graduating class.

The school band, under the direction of David King, performed 25 or 6 to 4.

Awards

School Counselor Justin Laine recognized Raja Estes and Kyryn Jacot as class valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

These honors are reserved for the students who have earned the highest two cumulative grade point averages during high school, Laine said.

Estes and Jacot, along with Ellie Chapman and Tayler Ford, achieved high honors status with cumulative grade point averages above 3.75. They wore gold cords signifying that achievement.

Laine recognized nine other students who achieved honors status with cumulative GPAs between 3.2 and 3.74: Andrew Todd, Selah Wulf, Morgan Ridgeway, Rachel Disch, Amelia Tutuu, Selena Martinez, Elyssa Hale, Karinda Cooper and Tye Johnson. In recognition of their accomplishments, these students wore silver cords.

Noting that They are part of an elite group of students statewide who are selected on the basis of their lofty cumulative grade point averages and strong SAT scores, Laine announced Estes, Jacot, Todd and Wulf have been selected by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction as Washington Honors Award Recipients. Todd was further recognized for achieving the honor of National Merit Commended Scholar based on scoring in the top 3 percent of college-bound juniors nationwide on the PSAT last year.

Announcing scholarship awards, Laine reported, Many of these scholarships are presented through the Naselle Education Foundation on behalf of various community members and organizations. Local community members and organizations have awarded approximately $35,000 in scholarships to this years graduating class. Over the next four years, the members of this graduating class are eligible to receive over $400,000 in scholarships and the Montgomery GI Bill.

The honorees received their scholarships from Principal Quinn Donlon.

Nelson and District Board of Directors member Amy Hunt presented diplomas and congratulated each of the students.

Salutatorian and Class President Jacot asked the students to stand. He presented them to Superintendent Nelson for certification.

With members of the 2017 class soon to head off to pursue educational and work opportunities, its worth noting that two of the young men, Brian Smith and Steven Wirkkala, are headed to the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Observer congratulates these young men and women on their accomplishments and wishes them safe journeys and the very best in their future endeavors.

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