Scientists have retrieved samples from other objects in the Solar System, including comets and asteroids. What does it take to return a piece of rock from space, and what have we learned so far?
Jan 7th: Could Be Twins & Spray Paints
Today Travelers in the night take you to discuss about a pair of possibly related comets pass unusually close to Earth and a gentle method of causing an asteroid to miss planet Earth.
Oct 29th: Eric’s Night & Close
To night Travelers in the Sky tell you.a story about the developing equipment and skills to predict the impact of tiny space rocks. Also the discovery of very close approaching asteroids.
Oct 15th: Fuls III & Vulcan
Sep 6th: Origin of Earth’s Water: A New Hypothesis Has Entered the Chat
For decades, scientists have been trying to work out just how the Earth got all its water, and the prevailing theory was that comets and asteroids brought it, and we have evidence for that mechanic; however, a new hypothesis has provided evidence that the water was already here, locked away in hydrous minerals in a very iron-poor core.
Aug 23rd: Indigenous North American Stories Point to Comet Explosion
By collecting and analyzing stories from a variety of indigenous cultures in North America, researchers find evidence for a mid-air explosion of a comet or asteroid, similar to the Tunguska event
Jul 23rd: Comet Leonard III & Comet Catalina
Today’s Travelers in the Night talk about an unknown fuzzy object with a broad tail moving through the constellation of Pisces. Also about Comet C/2018 M1 (Catalina).
Jul 9th: Botswana Bound & Peek a Boo Asteroid
A small space rock with a diameter less than the height of an NBA basketball player crossed the orbit of our Moon and nine hours after, it explode over Botswana. More at #365DaysOfAstro
Jun 22nd: Rubble Pile Asteroids May Be Extinct Comets
After detecting high levels of organic matter using remote sensors at the asteroid Ryugu, numerical models show that it’s possible that rubble pile asteroids are actually extinct comets.
Jun 7th: Thirty Comets Spotted Orbiting Alien Star
Using data from TESS, a new paper presents evidence for the discovery of thirty potential comets orbiting in the Beta Pictoris system.