Week 32
This Week in History: August 2-8
AUGUST 3, 1963: U.S. Government sensors detect an airburst explosion near the Prince Edward Islands off the southern coast of South Africa. At first it was thought that this was caused by a clandestine nuclear device tested by that nation, but later study revealed that it was caused by an incoming small stony asteroid. Airburst …
Comet of the Week: 67P/Churyomov-Gerasimenko
Perihelion: 2015 August 13.08, q = 1.243 AU There have been a handful of occasions throughout recent history when someone has discovered a comet while looking for, or examining, another one. Such an incident happened in late 1969 in the former Soviet Union, when on September 11 Svetlana Gerasimenko with the Alma Ata Observatory (in …
Special Topic: Life in Martian Meteorites?
The question as to whether or not we are alone in the universe has fascinated humanity throughout most of its history. In addition to driving many of our mythologies and stories, it has also motivated many of us, myself included, to pursue sciences like astronomy in the first place. The unambiguous discovery that life has …