Mysterious Comet ??!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...t-never-seen-SURVIVE-close-encounter-sun.html

"Mysterious comet to be visible from Earth: Space telescope spots unusual comet 'never seen before' as it SURVIVES close encounter with the sun

Scientists say the comet does not fit into any of the known comet families
It grazed past the sun at a distance of 2.2 million miles from the surface
Few comets survive coming that close to the sun, making this one unusual
The comet was seen to develop a tail as solar material erupts from the sun
Scientists say it may become visible from Earth as it continues its journey "

More can be read at : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...t-never-seen-SURVIVE-close-encounter-sun.html

 

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SOHO sees something new near the sun: Comet survives close encounter:

An unusual comet skimmed past the sun on Feb 18-21, 2015, as captured by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO.

This comet was interesting for two reasons. First it's what's called a non-group comet, meaning it's not part of any known family of comets. Most comets seen by SOHO belong to the Kreutz family -- all of which broke off from a single giant comet many centuries ago.

The second reason it's interesting is because the vast majority of comets that come close enough to the sun to be seen by SOHO do not survive the trip. Known as sungrazers, these comets usually evaporate in the intense sunlight. This comet made it to within 2.2 million miles of the sun's surface -- but survived the trip intact.

more at......
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224164848.htm

 

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Watch the following video to see the comet fly around the sun:

 

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We will do a superb job of cataloguing NEOs down to four metres across, then one of these babies will sneak up on us and we will all regret not having established a colony on Mars.

 

Bingo!

 

http://www.universetoday.com/119190/kamikaze-comet-loses-its-head/#more-119190
Kamikaze Comet Loses its Head:
byBOB KINGonMARCH 2, 2015

Like coins, most comet have both heads and tails. Occasionally, during a close passage of the Sun, a comet’s head will be greatly diminished yet still retain a classic cometary outline. Rarely are we left with nothing but a tail. How eerie it looks. Like a feather plucked from some cosmic deity floating down from the sky. Welcome to C/2015 D1 SOHO, the comet that almost didn’t make it.


It was discovered on Feb. 18 by Thai amateur astronomer and writer Worachate Boonplod from the comfort of his office while examining photographs taken with the coronagraph on the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). A coronagraph blocks the fantastically bright Sun with an opaque disk, allowing researchers to study the solar corona as well as the space near the Sun. Boonplod regularly examines real-time SOHO images for comets and has a knack for spotting them; in 2014 alone he discovered or co-discovered 35 comets without so much as putting on a coat.





Learn why there are so many sungrazing comets

Most of them belong to a group called Kreutz sungrazers, the remains of a much larger comet that broke to pieces in the distant past. The vast majority of the sungrazers fritter away to nothing as they’re pounded by the Sun’s gravity and vaporize in its heat. D1 SOHO turned out to be something different – a non-group comet belonging to neither the Kreutz family nor any other known family.

After a perilously close journey only 2.6 million miles from the Sun’s 10,000° surface, D1 SOHO somehow emerged with two thumbs up en route to the evening sky. After an orbit was determined, we published a sky maphere at Universe Today encouraging observers to see if and when the comet might first become visible. Although it was last seen at around magnitude +4.5 on Feb. 21 by SOHO, hopes were high the comet might remain bright enough to see with amateur telescopes.

On Wednesday evening Feb. 25, Justin Cowart, a geologist and amateur astronomer from Alto Pass, Illinois figured he’d have a crack at it. Cowart didn’t have much hope after hearing the news that the comet may very well have crumbled apart after the manner of that most famous of disintegrators, Comet ISON . ISON fragmented even before perihelion in late 2013, leaving behind an expanding cloud of exceedingly faint dust.

more at.......
http://www.universetoday.com/119190/kamikaze-comet-loses-its-head/#more-119190

 

On Mars there is no atmosphere or magnetic shield to protect those who live there so are you sure that would be a smart idea?

 

1. There is an atmosphere, it just rather thin.
2. It can be thickened in a variety of ways.
3. A subterranean existence is preferable to no existence at all.
4. You don't seem to appreciate the use of metaphor and implicit story telling to highlight potential dangers.

 

On a slow news day two pigeons fighting on Main Street are worthy of comment.

 

1. So thin it doesn't protect the planet from asteroids that hit it nor does it protect from cosmic radiation. That was why I stated what I did.

2. Certainly but it will take thousands of years to do so.

3. Where do you get oxygen and water from since neither exist on Mars.

4. I deal with facts and that is something people seem to forget about when trying to sell a colony on Mars.

 

The Earth's atmosphere does not protect it from asteroids. It only protects it from the very smallest of meteors. The protection difference between the two is minimal and of no practical significance. That's why what you stated was wrong.

It took thousands of years to develop a global, technical civilisation on Earth. What do you have against long range planning? No serious student of the issue of Mars colonisation, or terrafroming thinks it is a short term proposition.

Like all terrestrial planets oxygen is the most common element in the crust and mantle. There is abundant water in the polar caps. Many researchers believe there could be large volumes of ice in the upper crustal layers covering an extensive area of the planet.

Perhaps it would make for more productive discussion if you checked your facts before posting.

Based on the foregoing your facts are either wrong (points 1 and 3), or irrelevant (point 2).

 

From Wikipedia:

"More than five million cubic kilometers of ice have been identified at or near the surface of modern Mars, enough to cover the whole planet to a depth of 35 meters."

And where you have water you have oxygen.

 

Although the surface of Mars was periodically wet and could have been hospitable to microbial life billions of years ago,[50]the current environment at the surface is dry and subfreezing, probably presenting an insurmountable obstacle for living organisms. In addition, Mars lacks a thick atmosphere, ozone layer, and magnetic field, allowing solar and cosmic radiation to strike the surface unimpeded.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...hi5MTIFBCK3t2reNA&sig2=9NKAnzZReq7t4gmTeLLCFQ

 

Although the surface of Mars was periodically wet and could have been hospitable to microbial life billions of years ago,[50]the current environment at the surface is dry and subfreezing, probably presenting an insurmountable obstacle for living organisms. In addition, Mars lacks a thick atmosphere, ozone layer, and magnetic field, allowing solar and cosmic radiation to strike the surface unimpeded.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...hi5MTIFBCK3t2reNA&sig2=9NKAnzZReq7t4gmTeLLCFQ

 

Sounds like Antarctica - and we can live there.

 

Subfreezing like minus 200 degrees F.

 

Yep. There are lots of challenges.

 

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
: Winston S. Churchill:

 

If a colony is ever placed on Mars it would need to be underground to keep away from radiation, meteors and 200 degree temps. to me that's not much of a life.