December 16th. The day that the comet that could have been famous will fly by Earth at only 30.4 times the distance of the Moon. Could have been famous? Yes, had things worked out differently, a generation of space fans would have been learning to say “Wirtanen” (it is Vir-tanen) instead of “Churyumov-Gerasimenko” (Chury to [...]
The confirmation that A/2017 U1 (now, formally, 1I/2017 U1, or 1I/'Oumuamua) which, if it is of the low albedo that its reddish colour indicates, has a diameter of 200-250 metres, has interstellar origin, has created great interest in the astronomical community as well as the need to invent an acceptable naming system for interstellar objects. [...]
