After being treated to an encore of the Northern Lights in recent weeks, skywatchers in Humboldt County have the chance to view another celestial phenomena in the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. In what NASA describes as a “once-in-80,000-years sight,” the comet will be visible low in the horizon to the west after sunset, with the best likelihood […]
comet
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Perseid Meteors 2020
Currently speeding out from the sun after its last visit to the solar system’s inner reaches in 1992, Comet Swift-Tuttle leaves a trail of debris in its path. Comets are made of frozen gasses, dust and rock; as the sun’s energy warms and sublimates the frozen gasses, some of its solids are blown off into […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Perseid Meteors 2020: A comet’s tale
Currently speeding out from the sun after its last visit to the solar system’s inner reaches in 1992, Comet Swift-Tuttle leaves a trail of debris in its path. Comets are made of frozen gasses, dust and rock; as the sun’s energy warms and sublimates the frozen gasses, some of its solids are blown off into […]
Posted inNews
Coast Guard Rescues Another Boat Today (With Video)
Yet another crab fishing vessel with two onboard was escorted back to port today, the fourth Coast Guard rescue mission in as many days. The call came in around 10:30 a.m. and the Comet was back at Woodley Island by 1:30 p.m. after a prop failed. No injuries were reported. On Monday, the Coast Guard […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Comet ISON: Coming Our Way
Predicting whether an incoming comet will be spectacular or not, especially when it’s a first-timer, is a risky business. I got my start writing science columns when the editor of our then-local paper called me in early 1986. “I understand Comet Halley is on its way here, and I’d like a story about what it’s […]