Happy Hour on Comet Lovejoy

NASA writes about a new report from French scientists on observations made of Comet Lovejoy as it passed around the sun early this year:

“‘We found that comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity,’ said Nicolas Biver of the Paris Observatory, France, lead author of a paper on the discovery published Oct. 23 in Science Advances.”

Here’s the first part of the NASA news release. Cheers!

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Researchers Catch Comet Lovejoy Giving Away Alcohol

Comet Lovejoy lived up to its name by releasing large amounts of alcohol as well as a type of sugar into space, according to new observations by an international team. The discovery marks the first time ethyl alcohol, the same type in alcoholic beverages, has been observed in a comet. The finding adds to the evidence that comets could have been a source of the complex organic molecules necessary for the emergence of life.

“We found that comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity,” said Nicolas Biver of the Paris Observatory, France, lead author of a paper on the discovery published Oct. 23 in Science Advances. The team found 21 different organic molecules in gas from the comet, including ethyl alcohol and glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar.

Comets are frozen remnants from the formation of our solar system. Scientists are interested in them because they are relatively pristine and therefore hold clues to how the solar system was made. Most orbit in frigid zones far from the sun. However, occasionally, a gravitational disturbance sends a comet closer to the sun, where it heats up and releases gases, allowing scientists to determine its composition.

Comet Lovejoy (formally cataloged as C/2014 Q2) was one of the brightest and most active comets since comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. Lovejoy passed closest to the sun on January 30, 2015, when it was releasing water at the rate of 20 tons per second. The team observed the atmosphere of the comet around this time when it was brightest and most active.

ISON, We’re So Over You: 73 More Comets in 2014!

For anyone who’s feeling jilted by Comet ISON’s poor showing in 2013, not to worry: 2014 will see 73 more comets (73!) looping around the Sun.

Comet Lovejoy, Dec. 31
Comet Lovejoy, Dec. 31

The Sky Live Blog lists all these comets, including the dates of their perihelion passages and expected maximum brightness, here.

According to Universe Today, four of the stand-out comets will be Comet Lovejoy (visible now), Comet PanSTARRS, Comet Oukaidmeden, and Comet Siding Spring.

Below is just a sampling of all of 2014’s comets–the names of the first 15 and the dates they’ll be closest to the Sun.

Comet 87P/Bus; Jan 7
Comet 293P/Spacewatch; Jan 9
Comet P/2007 R2 (Gibbs); Jan 11
Comet C/2013 H2 (Boattini); Jan 23      
Comet 129P/Shoemaker-Levy 3; Feb 6
Comet P/2013 N3 (PANSTARRS); Feb 11
Comet 169P/NEAT; Feb 12
Comet 292P/Li; Feb 13
Comet C/2013 P2 (PANSTARRS); Feb 17
Comet P/2013 TL117 (Lemmon); Feb 18
Comet C/2012 X1 (LINEAR); Feb 21
Comet 294P/LINEAR; Feb 26
Comet P/2007 H3 (Garradd); Mar 3
Comet 52P/Harrington-Abell; Mar 7
Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS); Mar 8