comets

NASA supercomputer finds billions of comets mimicking the Milky Way’s shape: ‘The universe seems to like spirals!’

by
Frozen water can be found everywhere in the solar system, from the Oort Cloud to Mercury (except on Venus).

Spirals are a repeating theme in astronomy, with arguably the most famous example of a swirling armed structure being our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Now, using a powerful NASA supercomputer called “Pleiades,” scientists have discovered yet another spiral structure on the edge of our solar system. The spiral is composed of billions of icy … Read more

Astronomers discover 7 new ‘dark comets,’ but what exactly are they?

by

Scientists have discovered seven more “dark comets,” and analysis of this haul suggests that the puzzling planetoids are divided into two distinct families, further deepening the mystery of why these objects look like asteroids but behave like comets. Of late, the dividing line between asteroids and comets has become blurred. There are “main-belt comets,” also … Read more