Great Comet McNaught & Meteorite Lands in a N.J. Bathroom

Alert Focus: Signs in the heavens Luke 21:25 "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,... Great Comet McNaught SPACEWEATHER.com - January 11, 2007 -- When the sun sets tonight, go outside and look west. You may see the brightest comet in thirty years hanging just above the horizon. It's Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1). Last night, "as the comet descended in the west, it turned reddish and seemed to glow very brightly--almost like a spark or ember. Awe inspiring!" reports Leslie Sheldon of Kanata, Ontario. "I can only imagine what it would look like in truly dark skies." In the days ahead, Comet McNaught will pass the sun (temporarily disappearing in the glare) and emerge in good position for southern hemisphere viewing later this month. Meanwhile, solar heating will continue to puff up the comet, causing it to brighten even more. It could become one of the brightest comets in centuries, visible even in daylit skies. Read on... In Broad Daylight "This is the brightest comet I've ever seen!" says Sean Walker of Sky and Telescope. Thus inspired, he decided to photograph Comet McNaught in broad daylight .... http://www.spaceweather.com/index.cgi Comet McNaught Photo Gallery UPDATE -- A Meteorite Lands in a N.J. Bathroom ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Chris Newmarker - January 11, 2007 -- FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- A hole in the roof, a bathroom full of debris and a strange, silvery rock near the toilet - the Nageswaran family soon realized they needed an astronomer, not a contractor, to fully explain what damaged their house. Scientists determined it was a meteorite that crashed through the roof of their central New Jersey home more than a week ago. While extraterrestrial rocks fall to the Earth with some regularity, it is rare for them to strike homes.... The family initially thought an old patch job in the ceiling had come loose. The mystery deepened after Shankari Nageswaran started cleaning up. On the floor directly below the hole, under an evergreen bath mat, the tile was dented. There was another dent on the wall. Near the back of the toilet, she found a metallic rock, about the same size and shape as the hole in the ceiling. The sparkly rock was the size of a golf ball but heavier at 13 ounces, or about as heavy as a can of soup. Her husband shined a flashlight through the hole in the ceiling, then stuck a long stick in, and realized there was another hole in the roof. It was not until the next morning that his father suggested the mysterious rock came from outer space, and they called police. Two geologists from Rutgers University, along with an independent metallurgist, soon arrived. They concluded that the rock - tentatively named "Freehold Township" - was an iron meteorite. "It could have done great damage and destruction," Srinivasan Nageswaran marveled. "It could have hurt our people." About 50 meteorites reach the Earth's surface each year, but with humans occupying only a small part of the planet, there is only one report every year or two of meteorites hitting buildings, said Tim McCoy, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's meteorite collection. ... http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070110/D8MILDO82.html Amazon boss shows off spacecraft BBC NEWS - January 4, 2007 -- The billionaire founder of Amazon.com has released the first images of the launch of a private spacecraft that could bring space travel to the masses…. The test launch took place in November 2006 in a remote part of Texas, but details have only now been released. The images mark the first time Jeff Bezos has broken his silence on the work of his space company, Blue Origin. Writing on the company's website, Mr Bezos said: "We're working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go; and so that we humans can better continue exploring the Solar System." … http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6230245.stm http://public.blueorigin.com/index.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.