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This comet looks big to me ? Should be interesting to see what happens on April 17th ? Here's a realtime link:

http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512

1 posted on 04/16/2004 1:17:05 PM PDT by Orlando
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To: Orlando

I think when this comet strikes the sun it will wipe out all the dinosaurs that live there, no?


280 posted on 06/03/2004 3:08:49 PM PDT by chilepepper (The map is not the territory -- Alfred Korzybski)
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I really miss the flakiness of Truth666. But anyway...
The Comet That Wasn’t There
By Brian P James
This speculation all seemed to erupt from web news published by NASA and Space.com, of a rare meteor shower that would be seen in the Southern hemisphere, and seen best from Antarctica, on March 1st. This meteor shower was from the material of the tail of Comet Bradfield (1976-D1 Bradfield to be precise). For some reason this perfectly normal news alert by NASA and Space.com (I get them every day by email) sparked all manner of speculation and conspiracy theory, to the point that this comet was due to collide with the earth. This ‘news’ then exploded all round conspiracy/UFO/new age websites – in some cases complete with fake photos of what was termed ‘The Nostradamus Comet’ over the ice-fields of Antarctica. The speculation got to the point where claims were made that NASA, the US Government and various astronomy websites were hiding information – as people had done web searches and couldn’t find Comet Bradfield! To be brutally honest, seldom has a no-story/non-event generated so much drivel (polite description for this publication) by people determined to speculate and hype based on a total lack of fact (and yes, I dare say boost their web-hits!).
Comet Bradfield Emerges from the Sun
After School Astronomy
Sky watchers in mid northern latitudes (that's us!) can now glimpse a recently discovered comet. Comet Bradfield, named after its discoverer, William A. Bradfield of Yankalilla, South Australia can now be seen low in the eastern sky just before sunrise. The comet is decreasing in brightness as it moves now further from the sun but can still be seen sporting a long vertical tail with any good pair of binoculars. Comet Bradfield was discovered just a month ago on March 23rd not long before it made its closest approach to the sun (called perihelion) on April 17th - just 25 million km from the sun. Comets are believed to originate from the outer solar system, beyond the orbit of Pluto in two regions called the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud and are thuoght to be remnants of the early solar system's formation. Often called "dirty snow balls", they are made of frozen carbon dioxide, water ice, silicates, ammonia, and a host of other molecules. Comets may have played a key role in the development of life on Earth. It is widely believed that they brought much of the water on our planet and have been observed to contain building blocks for amino acids such as Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN).
Analysis of past comets
C/2004 F4 (Bradfield)

Andreas Kammerer
According to these estimates the absolute coma diameter measured 40.000 - 80.000 km when the comet emerged in the morning sky, reaching 400.000 km at maximum, decreasing to 150.000 km at the end of June. The degree of condensation was extremely high at first (DC 8), decreasing steadily during the following weeks (end of June: DC 1). Thus the extremely diffuse coma could be the main reason that after the end of June no further visual sightings have been reported.
Comet Bradfield Passes the Sun
Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA
Today, Comet Bradfield is passing the Sun. The above image, taken yesterday in the direction of the Sun by the SOHO LASCO instrument, shows the comet and its dust tail as the elongated white streak. The Sun would normally be seen in the very centre but has been blocked from view. Comet C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) was discovered just one month ago and has brightened dramatically as it neared the Sun. Careful sky gazers can see Comet Bradfield with the unaided eye near the Sun, although NASA's sun-orbiting SOHO satellite has the best view. During the day, Comet Bradfield will continually shift inside the LASCO frame as it rounds the Sun. There is even the possibility that the comet will break up. If not, the bright comet's trajectory will carry it outside the field of LASCO sometime tomorrow. Along with T7 and Q4, Comet Bradfield is now the third comet that is currently visible on the sky with the unaided eye, the most ever of which we are aware and quite possibly the most in recorded history.

294 posted on 12/30/2005 4:56:06 PM PST by SunkenCiv ("In silence, and at night, the Conscience feels that life should soar to nobler ends than Power.")
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