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Comets 25 October 2013

Comets

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Comets. 25 October 2013. Introduction. The history of comet watching dates back to 1000 BC from the Chinese records and Chaldea, a place in present Iraq. Comets have been regarded as omen, even as recently as 1986. Battle of Hastings - 1066 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Comets

Comets

25 October 2013

Page 2: Comets

Introduction

• The history of comet watching dates back to 1000 BC from the Chinese records and Chaldea, a place in present Iraq.

• Comets have been regarded as omen, even as recently as 1986. – Battle of Hastings - 1066

• Today Astronomers study Comets from scientific perspectives, and our understanding of these fascinating objects have grown tremendously.

Page 3: Comets

Dirty Snowballs

• Comets are dusty chunk of ice

• During each orbit around the sun they partially vaporize

• Have elliptical Orbits

Courtesy: Calvin J. Hamilton

Page 4: Comets
Page 5: Comets

Orbits of Comets

• Elliptical in Shape

• Randomly oriented

Sun

Comet

Earth

Perihelion distance

Aphelion distance

Page 6: Comets

Comet Hunters

• Comet are named by International Astronomical Union (IAU) after the person who first discovers them.

• Many comets are discovered by amateur astronomers.

• Charles Messier, E. E. Bernard, Shoemaker and Levy, Hale and Bopp, Ikeya, Seki and Hayakutake are popular comet hunters.

Page 7: Comets

Origins of Comets

• Comets are thought to be the left over debris from during the time of formation of the solar system.

• The elliptical orbits of comets suggest that they underwent gravitational pull from the giant planets.

• This all lead us to infer two possible locations where comets could start their journey towards the sun.

Page 8: Comets

Comets Tails• Ludwig Biermann propose the idea of solar

wind to explain comet tails. Mariner 2 spacecraft captured the one such event in 1962.

Page 9: Comets

Comet Collisions

Courtesy: NASA/JPL

Page 10: Comets

Kohoutek

Page 11: Comets

Comet West

Page 12: Comets

Shoemaker-Levy 9

Page 13: Comets

Shoemaker-Levy hits Jupiter

Page 14: Comets

Hale-BoppIon tail &Dust tail

Page 15: Comets

Halley from Giotto

Page 16: Comets

Hyakutake

Page 17: Comets

Deep Impact Tempel 1

Page 18: Comets

Comet ISON

4 October 2013

Page 19: Comets

Comet ISON

8 October 2013

Page 20: Comets

ISON’s path through the sky

Page 21: Comets

10 April 2013

Comet ISON