“An Emerald in the Sky” January 1 - 2, 2008.
NASA: “After a 13.6 year absence, Comet 8P/Tuttle is once again
traveling through the inner solar system and on January 1 - 2, 2008, it makes its closest approach to Earth at only 24 million miles away. The merald-colored comet will brighten to a predicted magnitude of 5.8, visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky sites and will be a fine target for backyard telescopes. Look straight up after sunset on January 1, 2008, and north of the big ‘W’ of Cassiopeia to see the emerald green glow of Comet 8P/Tuttle.”
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1 in 75 chance Asteroid 2007 WD5 could impact near Opportunity
rover site on Martian equator moving at 8 miles/second.
“We know that it's going to fly by Mars and most likely going to miss,
but there's a possibility of an impact.” - Steve Chesley, Astronomer,
Near Earth Object Program, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Mars exploration. If the asteroid - discovered only a month ago in November 2007 - does hit the red planet on January 30, 2008, it will probably hit near the Opportunity site where the rover has been exploring since 2004. NASA says the robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone. Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famous Meteor Crater in Arizona. Images courtesy NASA.
