Comets

All over the world, comets symbolized different things such as the death of a leader, war, famine or a bad harvest was coming. Can we blame them? They knew nothing about what we would consider today to be common knowledge. In the 1650’s, however, comets meant something else to someone else. This was a time where we still considered comets to be evil signs. At that time, young Isaac Newton had received his first telescope as a gift from his parents and was prepared to view a comet that fateful night

duration.” PHILAE EXPECTED TO UNVEIL MYSTERIES OF LIFE Scientists are hopeful that new samples from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s surface will yield more insight into the fundamentals of planet formation, and how such a frigid and hostile environment can be host to the complex organic compounds capable of seeding life. The Rosetta spacecraft has spent the past two weeks studying a part of the comet inaccessible to Philae, but as of August 11th the mother probe has returned to its position above

holds so much mystery. One of the most recent fascinations to astronomers has been asteroids, meteors, meteorites, and comets. These space rocks are found

launching into the air to discover critical data for future mission crews. In the excerpt “A Success in Space” it talks about a probe called “Philae Lander” it is the first spacecraft to set down on a comet. The goal for this spacecraft is to take photos and dig up samples and pieces from the comets surface, the

wealthier families Messier and his siblings went to school, but in about 1741 he fell out a window while playing and broke his leg, after that his mother took him out of school and taught him herself. He became interested in astronomy after witnessing a comet in 1744 and a solar eclipse in July of 1748 from his hometown. In 1751 he was employed by Joseph Nicolas Delisle, who was an astronomer in the French Navy at the time. Delisle instructed him on how to keep records of his observations, and in May

location and movements of the stars around him. In 1781 he saw what he was a comet for multiple nights. He thought it was a comet because it changed its place in the night sky. What questions were asked? He had his telescope set at a certain power but saw that the diameter did not match up with the consistency of a comet so he increased the power (or magnification as we would suggest). His biggest question seemed to be…Is this a comet? He continued to call it such even after reporting his findings

slowly moving across the sky” (Redd). At first, Herschel believed the small object to be a comet, but later found that it was actually a planet! He observed how, even though the Earth was moving away from the object, later to be called the planet Uranus, it seemed to be getting larger, reaffirming his beliefs that the object discovered was a comet. Herschel reported his findings and how he came to discover the “comet” to the Royal Society of London which was published in their paper on April 26, 1781.

probe, named the Philae Lander, made the first spacecraft to land on a comet, in outer space. The Philae mission is important for science research because it could unravel secrets of life, including new information, and shine light on the history of Earth. To begin, revealing new information about life is important because it helps us to continue on further in what we may not know. “It could reveal secrets about the makeup of comets, the formation of our solar system, and even the origins of life” (Keady

closer to our planet than any other star out there. By accident, he observed a star to be which he thought as a comet.

The comet Mission In The Milky Way we live in, there are comets,planets,stars that surround us. But have you tried seeing them up close? Well in the passage,“A Space Mission” by Cameron Keady talks about scientists from the European Space Agency launching a spacecraft on to a comet to see up close. There is also the “America’s New Spacecraft” by Cameron Keady where it talks about a space program named NASA where they launch a spacecraft to test the capabilities of launching a real person. But out