[Swordmaker]

Dirty Snowball OUT
Fluffy Ball of Powder IN

Out is the long-held view of hardened, dirty snowballs hurtling through space. In is the comet as a fluffy ball of powder, blowing puffs of dust whenever sunlight falls on it.

And what do the astronomers postulate causes the sunlight initiated "puffs of dust," sunlight allergic Magic Dragons???

[Swordmaker]

Check out some iconoclastic scientists' predictions on what Deep Impact would show... made before the impact.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435997/posts

[carumba]

Among the material were a host of organic molecules.

Amino acids, nucleotides, methane, barbeque sauce...its all from outer space.

[derllak]

And what do the astronomers postulate causes the sunlight initiated "puffs of dust," sunlight allergic Magic Dragons???

Simple.... comets are alive; composed of billions of tiny creatures that lay dormant until warmed by the suns rays. Then they awaken and begin to eat each other. Now the only question is, "are these puffs burps or farts".

Comets should be placed on the endangered species list NOW. NASA should be forbidden to continue murdering these helpless creatures. And if a collection of these wonderful creatures want to visit our planet one day, no attempt should be made to stop them. Fluff has a right to live too!

[taxesareforever]

Images of the comet before impact showed it released bursts of gas

Good thing this wasn't in California. It would have required a license for releasing gas.

[I see my hands]

---

If comets are so loose why would we need to divert one from a collision course with Earth?

(USA #1 !!)

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[overtaxed_canadian]

"And what do the astronomers postulate causes the sunlight initiated "puffs of dust," sunlight allergic Magic Dragons???"

---

I believe they are obliquely referring to radiation pressure from photons, but I am not a physicist.

[Major_Risktaker]

The insight came yesterday when researchers announced the first detailed results of Deep Impact, an elaborate experiment played out in space on July 4.

Over two months time and Fluffy Ball of Powder in all we get. WOW! I'm not really sold on NASA insightful analysis.

[Jack of all Trades]

If 75% to 80% of the nucleus is empty, what makes up the mass?

If the comet is a loose ball of powder rather than a hard lump, what holds it together as it arcs around the sun?

Glad to hear some results are finally being published.

[R. Scott]

And what do the astronomers postulate causes the sunlight initiated "puffs of dust," sunlight allergic Magic Dragons???

Temperature differential?

[Junior]

This one has potential.

[LRS]

[mdmathis6]

If they are that loosely packed, then a few nukes fired into them should creat a shock wave with all the melting water and methane going up all at once and blowing them apart.

I can't believe all comets are made this way.

[cogitator]

NASA's Deep Impact Adds Color to Unfolding Comet Picture

One of the scientists studying the comet is named Jessica Sunshine. No kidding.

[r9etb]

The premise of this article is deeply flawed -- they're saying that because this comet appears to be a "fluffy ball of powder," then all comets must be fluffy balls of powder.

Color me highly skeptical.

[Doctor Stochastic]

...size of a football pitch ...

I'm guessing this means the size of a soccer field.

[Bittersweetmd]

Isn't it something how often scientist prove to be way off track?

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from September 6, 2005.

Comet Research Pioneer Whipple Dies
AP on Yahoo | 8/31/04 | AP
Posted on 08/31/2004 5:19:39 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

Fred L. Whipple, a pioneer in astronomy who proposed the "dirty snowball" theory for the substance of comets, has died. He was 97... proposed the theory in 1950, saying that comets consisted of ice with some rock mixed in, rather than sand held together by gravity, as was widely believed. Whipple's theory was an attempt to explain why some comets seemed to arrive at destinations earlier or later than predicted... believed that as a comet approached the sun, its light vaporized ice in the comet's nucleus. The jets of particles that resulted acted like a rocket engine that either slowed or accelerated the comet... also theorized that the glowing comet tails contained particles that originated from frozen reservoirs in comet nuclei.

Thanks Swordmaker. Just adding, not pinging.

• NASA Comet Chaser Finds 'Footprints' 2BN Miles Away (Stardust Mission)
• Strange comet unlike anything known
• The Jets of Comet Wild 2
• Deep Impact collision ejected the stuff of life
• Composition of a Comet Poses a Puzzle for Scientists

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