Comet Smacked Neptune 200 Years Ago, Data Suggests [2010]

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-09-22 17:47:07 | Updated at 2024-09-30 09:22:55 1 week ago

Comet Smacked Neptune 200 Years Ago, Data Suggests [2010]
Space dot com ^ | July 23, 2010 | Denise Chow

Posted on 09/22/2024 10:37:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

New measurements of Neptune's atmosphere by a European space telescope suggest that a comet may have crashed into the gas giant about 200 years ago.

Scientists analyzed the composition of Neptune's atmosphere using data from the Herschel space observatory. They found a peculiar distribution of carbon monoxide in the gas giant's atmosphere, which could be an indication of an earlier comet impact...

Other similar collisions between comets (or asteroids) and planets helped the astronomers detect the telltale signs of cometary impacts.

When pieces of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into Jupiter in 1994, scientists were able to examine the trajectory and debris to better understand planetary impacts. Instruments aboard the space probes Voyager 2, Galileo and Ulysses also documented every detail of the rare incident.

The data now helps scientists detect the telltale signs of cometary impacts that happened many years ago. Comets, which are sometimes described as "dusty snowballs," leave their mark in the atmospheres of gas giants like Jupiter and Neptune in the form of water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocyanicacid and carbon sulfide. Trace molecules of these compounds can be detected in the radiation emitted by the planets into space.

In February, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) presented strong evidence for a comet impact on Saturn about 230 years ago. That study was published in the February 2010 issue of Astronomy &Astrophysics.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...

TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; catastrophism; comet; comets; jupiter; neptune; saturn; science; shoemakerlevy9

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New measurements performed by the European Space Agency's Herschel infrared space telescope indicate that a comet may have hit Neptune, the outer-most planet in our solar system, two centuries ago.Image credit: NASA

1 posted on 09/22/2024 10:37:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

To: SunkenCiv

2 posted on 09/22/2024 10:39:09 AM PDT by rightwingcrazy (;-,)

To: 75thOVI; Abathar; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AnalogReigns; AndrewC; aragorn; ...

Hey, that's right, the SL-9 impacts on Jupiter happened 30 years ago.

3 posted on 09/22/2024 10:39:10 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)

To: SunkenCiv

AND ???? This is relevant to ? How can one guestimate when an asteroid hit a planet via a telescope? What is the point of this!? This hurts my brain!

4 posted on 09/22/2024 10:41:08 AM PDT by mythenjoseph (Islam has NO place in a Christian society.)

5 posted on 09/22/2024 10:44:19 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)

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