Comets
Latest about Comets
Newly found mega comet may be the largest seen in recorded history
By Elizabeth Howell published
A giant comet found far out in the solar system may be 1,000 times more massive than a typical comet, making it potentially the largest ever found in modern times.
Did a comet strike 13,000 years ago change human civilization as we know it?
By Chelsea Gohd published
Could a devastating comet impact in Earth's distant past have forever changed human civilization?
The curtain is about to come down on Comet NEOWISE
By Joe Rao last updated
The brightest comet to appear in Northern Hemisphere skies in nearly a quarter of a century will soon be ending its run as a naked-eye object.
Scientists track meteor shower to unusual comet seen every 4,000 years
By Meghan Bartels published
Meteor showers are the dazzling result of cometary debris building up along well-worn paths through the solar system, then burning up in Earth's atmosphere as our planet crosses that dust trail.
Metals found in the atmospheres of comets in and beyond our solar system surprise scientists
By Charles Q. Choi published
Metal atoms have surprisingly been discovered in the frigid atmosphere of the first known interstellar comet to visit our solar system, a new study finds.
Interstellar interloper 2I/Borisov may be the most pristine comet ever observed
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
The first known interstellar comet to visit our solar system may be the most pristine ever found, never passing near a star until visiting our own, researchers say.
Future interstellar comet? Gas-spewing object spotted in asteroid group near Jupiter
By Elizabeth Howell last updated
Researchers spotted an object strangely outgassing far from the sun — like a comet — during a long road trip through our solar system that could conclude in interstellar space, NASA says.
Newfound Comet Leonard will blaze into view this year
By Joe Rao published
A new comet is on its way in toward the sun, with prospects that it may become bright enough to see with the unaided eye by year's end.
Europe's Philae comet lander made a 2nd touchdown in a spooky spot: 'Skull-Top Ridge'
By Mike Wall last updated
Scientists have found the second place where a bouncing European lander touched down on Comet 67P six years ago, and the discovery is shedding light on the icy wanderer's composition.
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