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Comet Elenin Self-Destructs
Sky & Telescope ^

Posted on 08/31/2011 10:00:43 PM PDT by djf

Whenever astronomers discover a comet headed inbound toward a close encounter the Sun, there's always buzz among observers about how bright it might get. That was certainly the case last December, when Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1) made its debut. Many hoped it would become easily visible to the unaided eye as it rounded perihelion nine months later.

By April, that initial enthusiasm had waned a bit, as it became clear that Comet Elenin was small and intrinsically faint.

The keys to its peak visibility were the closeness it would eventually have to the Sun on September 10th (0.48 astronomical unit, about 45 million miles) and to Earth in mid-October (0.23 a.u.). In fact, amateur observations through July and early August suggested that this interloper might even be ahead of schedule, brightness-wise. The hearts of comet observers everywhere raced a little faster.

Now all bets are off. Within the past week the comet's brightness has declined by 50%, dropping a half magnitude between August 19th and 20th, according to Australian observer Michael Mattiazzo. (The comet's current location in western Virgo makes it virtually unobservable from northern latitudes.)

Worse, images show Comet Elenin's bright core becoming elongated and diffuse — the telltale signs that its icy nucleus has either broken in two or disintegrated altogether.

One veteran comet-watcher who's not surprised is John Bortle. Four months ago, based on Elenin's performance to that point, he cautioned, "The comet may be intrinsically a bit too faint to even survive perihelion passage." And his words have proved prescient, as the fading continues (estimates are near 9th magnitude) and there's speculation that this object or its remnants might not be around much longer.

I guess all those pseudoscientific bloggers who predicted planet-altering encounters with a cosmic visitor bright enough to be seen in broad daylight will just have to find something else to worry about.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; elenin; fizzle
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Now I don't want to sound like some tin-foil hat looney tunes whack job, but THERE IS SOMETHING DAMN WEIRD about all this Elenin stuff!!!
1 posted on 08/31/2011 10:00:44 PM PDT by djf
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To: djf

I agree. Definately something weird.


2 posted on 08/31/2011 10:05:18 PM PDT by unkus (Silence Is Consent)
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping!!


3 posted on 08/31/2011 10:06:32 PM PDT by djf (One of the few FReepers who NEVER clicked the "dead weasel" thread!! But may not last much longer...)
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To: djf

So the center of the debris cone will be 0.23 a.u. away. How wide will the cone be when it crosses our orbit?


4 posted on 08/31/2011 10:07:19 PM PDT by null and void (Day 950 of America's holiday from reality...)
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To: djf

Bush’s fault.


5 posted on 08/31/2011 10:09:30 PM PDT by toast
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To: djf; unkus

Comet Elenin EXPLODES HI1-B August 31st 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fDjO9Nhslo&feature=player_embedded

Comet Elenin appears to be hit by a pulse or explosion and possibly breaks into two pieces?


6 posted on 08/31/2011 10:10:43 PM PDT by LucyT
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To: null and void

Not sure.
But no doubt if it’s breaking apart and spreading out, that increases the chance it might hit something important.
Hope it’s not my backside!!!


7 posted on 08/31/2011 10:10:47 PM PDT by djf (One of the few FReepers who NEVER clicked the "dead weasel" thread!! But may not last much longer...)
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To: djf
Worse, images show Comet Elenin's bright core becoming elongated and diffuse — the telltale signs that its icy nucleus has either broken in two or disintegrated altogether.

Warp core breach.......Just guessing :^)

8 posted on 08/31/2011 10:11:17 PM PDT by The Cajun (Palin, Free Republic, Mark Levin, Rush, Hannity......Nuff said.)
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To: djf

Maybe it’s supposed to break apart now, so as to release the ET bio-agents contained therein so as to best infect the Earth? Hmmm...


9 posted on 08/31/2011 10:13:16 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: djf
Within the past week the comet's brightness has declined by 50%,

Somebody ping Weird Algore. Obviously humanity is causing Galactic Cooling.

10 posted on 08/31/2011 10:16:36 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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It’s dead, Jim...


11 posted on 08/31/2011 10:24:16 PM PDT by piasa
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To: unkus
Yeah, the normal part was the chunk of dirty ice getting perturbed out of orbit by the gas giants and going from getting less energy from the sun than your ice cream gets from your freezer light to significantly more than you get, standing here on earth, in the sunshine, in the mojave, during summer.

Right from the deep freeze into the oven. And it broke... That is weird. Wonder why....

Stress fractures in ice due to sudden change in temp? Nah... that's too easy.

BTW, the local junior college will probably let you audit a cosmology class for free. Just don't get it confused with the cosmetology classes, unless you need a haircut.

/johnny

12 posted on 08/31/2011 10:28:16 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: FromTheSidelines
so as to release the ET bio-agents contained therein so as to best infect the Earth?

Wait, I thought WE were the ET bio-agents?

/johnny

13 posted on 08/31/2011 10:31:07 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: LucyT

Not sure what to say about that! That stuff sure isn’t “normal”!

Lately, we’ve been hearing all these stories and plans about some space agency trying to blast an asteroid out of it’s path to stop it from hitting us.

Maybe the “stories” aren’t just stories.

Maybe it’s actually happening right now.

I remember watching the original orbital path projections, and seems to me it came one heck of a lot closer than .23 AU


14 posted on 08/31/2011 10:31:49 PM PDT by djf (One of the few FReepers who NEVER clicked the "dead weasel" thread!! But may not last much longer...)
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To: JRandomFreeper
For the greys... But what about the OTHER races?

It's deeper than you think... There are layers here, you have to peel the onion. We were the bio-agent, but now a new bio-agent is coming to eliminate the first. The vaccine has been released, and we're the infection!

See, I could do this Coast To Coast thing!

15 posted on 08/31/2011 10:40:57 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: djf

Josephine The Plumber wasn’t worried.


16 posted on 08/31/2011 10:42:41 PM PDT by ThomasThomas ( Congressmen should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers, so we can identify their corporate sponsors.)
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To: djf

I was on my way to Russia to settle in one of their 500 underground bunkers.
Wonder if I can get a refund....or maybe I should now wait for planet X!


17 posted on 08/31/2011 10:45:33 PM PDT by hapnHal (hapnHal)
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To: FromTheSidelines
LOL!

Meh... meet me down at the corner of Main and Elm when you find another race that keeps carnivores as pets.

We're still the meanest, baddest hominids on the planet.

Only thing tougher than us is the roaches, rats, virii and some of the prions.

And we have opposable thumbs. (no claims to great intellegence for the species. I've met my new son-in law)

/johnny

18 posted on 08/31/2011 10:48:00 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: djf; null and void

Look at the bright side. Maybe it’s just regrouping. :)


19 posted on 08/31/2011 10:53:17 PM PDT by Ezekiel (The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)
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To: djf

I’ve been watching this Elenin event after seeing this vid posted on Mar 8th
She predicts a major event between Mar 11th thru 15th due to Elenin alignment.
Japan’s quake hit on the 11th

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95zMdTvoqcQ

Now that Elenin was blown away, I guess the predictions for earth quakes
on the 27th of September are out the window.


20 posted on 08/31/2011 11:08:13 PM PDT by twistedwrench
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