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☆ A rogue star could save Earth from extinction in a billion years by knocking it out past Pluto
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An unexpected rescue mission could come in the form of a star flying by the solar system. There's a slim chance the star could pull the Earth to a more habitable zone, a study suggested. The researchers ran 12,000 simulations to see what would happen if a star passed within 100 astronomical units (about 9.3 billion miles) from Earth. In 92% of cases, the solar system would remain almost intact even as a star passed by the solar system. In some simulations, Earth remained in the solar system but was pulled to a region beyond Pluto that's about 10% cooler than our current orbit.

Persons: —, Sean Raymond, there's, Raymond, that's Organizations: Service, University of Bordeaux, Planetary Science Institute, New, Royal Astronomical Society Locations: France, Tucson , Arizona

☆ Cisco acquiring cybersecurity company Splunk in cash deal worth $28 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Cisco is acquiring cybersecurity software company Splunk for $157 a share in a cash deal worth about $28 billion, the company said Thursday. The acquisition is one of Cisco's largest, and continues an acquisition streak which has built out the company's cybersecurity offerings. Splunk is a cybersecurity company that helps enterprises monitor and analyze their data to minimize the risk of hacks and resolve technical issues faster. If Cisco backs out of the deal or is forced to do so because of regulatory intervention, it will pay Splunk a termination fee of $1.48 billion, according to a regulatory filing. If Splunk backs out of the deal for any reason, it will pay a $1 billion breakup fee to Cisco.

Persons: Jakub Porzycki, Chuck Robbins, Robbins, Simpson Thacher, Moore, Morgan Stanley, Flom, Splunk Organizations: Getty Images, Cisco, Tidal Partners, Qatalyst Partners Locations: Krakow, Poland, Slate

☆ A mysterious green comet is approaching Earth and could be visible to the naked eye soon. Here's how to see it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Comet Nishimura could grace our skies with its eerie glow in early September. The comet may become visible to the naked eye in the coming weeks, NASA said. It may be one of the very few interstellar objects that have visited our solar system. "Will Comet Nishimura become visible to the unaided eye? If this hyperbolic orbit is confirmed, Comet Nishimura would join a very short list of interstellar objects that have visited the solar system.

Persons: Comet Nishimura, Hideo Nishimura, spaceweather.com Organizations: NASA, Service, Forbes Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ A Millennium Falcon-shaped comet heading toward Earth is so bright you'll able to see it with your naked eye, say astronomers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Ellie Zolfagharifard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Astronomers have spotted a "once-in-a-lifetime" comet shaped like the Millennium Falcon. The comet will make its closest approach to the sun next year, just weeks after a solar eclipse. The comet, known as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, abruptly brightened 100-fold on July 20 as plumes of debris and ice were blasted off it into space. While it may be possible to see the comet with the naked eye, Miles advised using binoculars. A decades-old mysteryAstronomers aren't sure exactly why Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which orbits the sun every 71 years, has brightened so drastically in recent weeks.

Persons: Pons, Brooks, It's, Richard Miles, Miles, Dr Edward Gomez, Elek Tamás, Helen Usher of Cardiff, Carrie Holt, Gomez Organizations: Service, British Astronomical Association, Wales, Harsona, Comet, Open University, University of Maryland Locations: Wall, Silicon, Cardiff, Nyiregyhaza, Hungary

☆ Webb telescope spots water in rare comet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe a rare comet in our solar system, making a long-awaited scientific breakthrough and stumbling across another mystery at the same time. For the first time, water was detected in a main belt comet, or a comet located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The space observatory detected water vapor around Comet Read, which suggests that water ice can be preserved in a warmer part of the solar system. It’s possible that the warmer temperatures of the main asteroid belt cause Comet Read to lose its carbon dioxide over time, the researchers said. Comet Read might have also formed in a warmer pocket of the solar system without carbon dioxide, Kelley said.

☆ Explainer: What to expect during the green comet's encounter with Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nicknamed "dirty snowballs" by astronomers, comets are balls of ice, dust and rocks that typically hail from the ring of icy material called the Oort cloud at our solar system's outer edge. One known comet actually originated outside the solar system - 2I/Borisov. Comets are composed of a solid core of rock, ice and dust and are blanketed by a thin and gassy atmosphere of more ice and dust, called a coma. Its greenish, emerald hue reflects the comet's chemical composition - it is the result of a clash between sunlight and carbon-based molecules in the comet's coma. NASA plans to observe the comet with its James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which could provide clues about the solar system's formation.

☆ It should take another 300 years for NASA's Voyager 1 probe to reach the most distant region of our solar system. Until then, it's cruising through the void between the stars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Voyager 1 and 2 are exploring the mysterious region between stars, called interstellar space. Both plucky spacecraft continue to send data back from beyond the solar system — and their cosmic journeys are far from over. A diagram showing both of NASA's Voyager probes in interstellar space as of November 2018. An illustration of the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud in relation to our solar system. NASA/JPL-CaltechFor the last decade, Voyager 1 has been exploring interstellar space, which is full of gas, dust, and charged energetic particles.

☆ Doi astronomii spun că au găsit cea mai mare cometă observată vreodată
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-29 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Doi astronomi cred că au descoperit cea mai mare cometă observată vreodată de oameni, o cometă a cărui nucleu înghețat are între 100 și 200 km lungime, fiind de câteva ori mai mare decât celebra cometă Hale-Bopp care a fost studiată acum 25 de ani, scrie New York Times, citează hotnews.ro. Dintre toate corpurile cerești, cometele sunt cele mai spectaculoase și majoritatea sunt originare din norul lui Oort, o regiune extrem de îndepărtată. Pentru că au aflat de ea și pentru că știu acum unde să se uite, astronomii o vor putea observa în detaliu în următorii 20 de ani. Cometele sunt corpuri cerești alcătuite din rocă, praf și gheață gazoasă, aflate pe o orbită alungită în jurul Soarelui. Apropiindu-se de Marte, cometele încep să formeze cozi lungi și spectaculoase, uneori de milioane de km.

Persons: Hale, Oort, Bernstein, Pedro Bernardinelli, Gary Bernstein, Neptun, Meg Schwamb Organizations: New York Times, Saturn, Queen’s University Locations: New, Queen’s, Queen’s University Belfast

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