Comets and Asteroids – Lee J. Russell, Author

Astronomers Thrill at Giant Comet Flying into Our Solar System – Scientific American

The internet is bubbling with news stories about comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). Current size estimates are that the comet is about 100-370 km across – much bigger than the previous size winner, Hale-Bopp in 1997 at 60km. There are big uncertainties at the moment, with C/2014 UN271 some 20 AU away. Those uncertainties will narrow,Continue reading “Astronomers Thrill at Giant Comet Flying into Our Solar System – Scientific American”

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Seeks to Grab a Piece of Asteroid Bennu – Scientific American

NASA is hopefully going to grab up to 2kg of rick samples from asteroid Bennu and give us a fantastic insight into early planetesimal formation in the solar system… The spacecraft’s first attempt to gather material from the space rock’s surface could become the largest nonlunar sample return in history Source: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Seeks toContinue reading “NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Seeks to Grab a Piece of Asteroid Bennu – Scientific American”