This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: a "large" S-type cosmic spherule (barred olivine, BO) recovered from the Transantarctic Mountains! Its parallel striations are the signature feature of the BO subtype, the most common S-type! ☄️
Credit: Dr. Hasse (@mfnberlin.bsky.social).
@amgc-vub.bsky.social
How cool! Our team is posting weekly pictures of samples that we find! If you are interested or curious about micrometeorites, consider following them (us)! 😄☄️
#spacedust #micrometeorites
If we consider the “Eclipse Comet” X/1882 K1 to have had a luminosity comparable to C/2026 A1 (MAPS), then STEREO-A basically shared the same experience as observers on Earth had during the May 17, 1882 solar eclipse! ☄️
A nice new Kreutz-group comet (left) is plunging toward its demise! Although a bit smaller than C/2026 A1 (MAPS)(right), it's still brighter than the average Kreutz-group fragments that are routinely discovered. ☄️
*When I say "survive", I mean any material making it past the Sun by any means (even if nucleus disintegrates, which it likely will, if it hasn't already). ☄️
Today is finally the day! Will C/2026 A1 (MAPS) "survive" perihelion? The opinions are divided, as current estimations place the comet at the very limit of survivability*. If it makes it past the Sun, it may briefly become a cool headless comet (debris trail) as seen from the Sth. Hemisphere! ☄️
Ha ha, relatable! 😆
What's currently going on in the daytime sky? Well, quite a bit, as far as comets! Here’s a new blog post on the potential outlook for C/2026 A1 (MAPS), along with several other comets recently uncovered in space-based solar observations! 😀☄️
I wrote a thing! Rubin and LSST are not only going to find a kajillion asteroids, they'll get lightcurves and colors at the same time, and the science is going to be phenomenal
skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...
The Moon recently passed through FOV of @noaa.gov's #CCOR-1 telescope, at about the same time as a (faint) coronal mass ejection! 😍
A nice little Meyer-group #comet was recently uncovered in data from the #CCOR-1 instrument aboard @noaa.gov's GOES-19 satellite! The animation below is that of the comet transiting the @esa.int/NASA SOHO/LASCO C2 FOV on March 6th, 2026. ☄️
Ever wondered what our #micrometeorites look like up close, in color? This composite shows optical close-ups of FLUX samples captured by Dr. Thilo Hasse from @mfnberlin.bsky.social! Thanks, Thilo & the MfN, for these amazing results! More of their work: www.micrometeorites.org
@amgc-vub.bsky.social
I can confirm: we were productive and had lots of fun! 😄
Yaayy, more Raman spectroscopy on micrometeorites! ☄️
A great start to 2026 as seen from the spacecraft coronagraphs: a nice new #sungrazing comet discovery! It reached a peak magnitude of ~+5 mag on January 1st, before fading. #Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) is also visible in the animation below. ☄️☄️ Credit: ESA/NASA SOHO/LASCO C3
#CometWatch
Yep, Aladin Lite is an easy interface that I commonly use, and the one I used to get this image. However, the Navigation tool has access to the latest DECaLS data releases (DR11). I tend to use both when "scrolling".
It's more of a "click-and-drag" :)
Were you accessing via the Navigation tool or Aladin?
As I was scrolling through the DECaPS DR2 images for interesting objects, I came across this surprisingly bright star that didn't appear anywhere else. Turned out to be V* FM Cir (Nova Circini 2018)! 😀
Was scrolling through the Digitalized Sky Survey plates and came across periodic comet 47P/Ashbrook–Jackson. The comet looks really nice in the blue plate! ☄️
#CometWatch
Image of C/1956 R1 by on 1957 Apr 27 by R. Waterfield, BAA Comet Section, https://britastro.org/cometobs/1956r1/1956r1_19570427_rwaterfield.html
#bskycometography no. 357
C/1956 R1 (Arend-Roland)
1956 Nov 8: Discovered by S. J. V. Arend & G. Roland (Belgium) at 10 mag. Predisc of Nov 7 from Japan. The comet reached 1 mag around perihelion (1957 Apr 8 at 0.32 au). Max tail 30° and 15° sunward tail! Last seen on Apr 11.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
Image of comet C/1989 V1 (Aarseth-Brewington) of 1989 Dec 20, by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=8375
#bskycometography no. 365
C/1989 W1 (Aarseth-Brewington)
1989 Nov 16: Discovered by K. B. Aarseth (Norway) and H. J. Brewington (USA) at 8.5 mag. Prediscovery images of Sep 1. The comet passed perihelion on Dec 27 and reached 3 mag. It was last finally seen on 1990 Jan 31.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
Was going through my old laptop and found this animation of comet Kudo-Fujikawa transiting the SOHO/LASCO C2 FOV! The images are from January 2003. Enjoy! ☄️
#CometWatch #ESA #NASA
Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is entering the STEREO/SECCHI HI1-A camera's FOV! So far, only low-quality data is available. ☄️
#CometWatch
Image of comet C/2018 V1 on 2018 Nov 18, by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=20224
#bskycometography no. 356
C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto)
2018 Nov 7: Disc by D. E. Machholz (visual), S. Fujikawa & M. Iwamoto (Japan) at 10 mag. It's the last visual comet discovery! Perihelion on Dec 3 at 0.39 au w/ 7-8 mag. Last seen on Dec 17, possibly disintegrated.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
Image of C/1948 V1 taken from an airplane, image from https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/es-geschah-vor-65-jahren-mysterium-um-die-luft-aufnahmen-des-letzten-finsterniskometen/ by @cosmos4u.bsky.social, also https://www.rocketstem.org/2020/05/16/ice-and-stone-special-topic-21/
#bskycometography no. 350
C/1948 V1 (Eclipse Comet)
1948 Nov 1: Disc on photographs taken during the total solar eclipse at 2° from the sun at maybe -3 mag. From Nov 5 seen from the ground. Max tail ~20°. Perihelion on Oct 27 at 0.14 au. Last seen 1949 Apr 3. ALT for image source.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
Development of brightness and size of comet 17P/Holmes during the ourburst of 2007 by Naoyuki Kurita, https://stellarscenes.net/comet_e/holmes_change.htm
#bskycometography no. 355
17P/1892 V1 (Holmes)
1892 Nov 6: Disc by E. Holmes (England) at 4 mag while in outburst five months after perihelion (Jun 13 at 2.14 au)! The comet faded slowly while becoming larger and diffuse. 2nd outburst on 1893 Jan 16. P=6.90 y, recovery in 1899.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
Image of comet C/1975 T2 (Suzuki-Saigusa-Mori) by Maurice Clark on 1975 Nov 4, http://www.phys.ttu.edu/~ozprof/ssm1.htm
#bskycometography no. 323
C/1975 T1 (Mori-Sato-Fujikawa) & C/1975 T2 (Suzuki-Saigusa-Mori)
1975 Oct 5: Two comets discovered within 1 hour by numerous Japanese comet hunters! Mori found his two comets within 70 minutes! The comets reached 8 mag and 4 mag, respectively.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
C/1577 V1 over Prague on 1577 Nov 12, broadsheet, Von einem schrecklichen und wunderbarlichen Cometen so sich den Dienstag nach Martini dieses lauffenden M. D. LXXViJ. Jahrs am Himmel erzeiget hat. (Geschrieben von Peter Codicillus von Tulechova), Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Von einem schrecklichen und wunderbarlichen Cometen so sich den Dienstag nach Martini dieses lauffenden M D LXXViJ Jahrs am Himmel erzeiget hat - 000003593.jpg
#bskycometography no. 351
C/1577 V1
1577 Nov 2: First seen from Peru at maybe -7 mag! Quickly seen world-wide. Perihelion on Oct 27 at 0.18 au, perigee on Nov 10 at 0.62 au. Used to prove for the first time that comets are outside of Earth's atmosphere. Last seen on 1578 Jan 26.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
Cute! 😍 Yesterday a small Kreutz-group comet discovered in CCOR-1 was found to be "double" when it entered the SOHO/LASCO C2 FOV! Close sungrazer fragments are personally my favorite! ☄️☄️
#CometWatch #Sungrazer
Image of comet C/1963 R1 as photographed from north of Los Angeles by Alan McClure on September 21, 1963. Photo copyright Alan McClure, https://www.rocketstem.org/2020/10/24/ice-and-stone-special-topic-44/
#bskycometography no. 302
C/1963 R1 (Pereyra)
1963 Sep 14: Discovered by Z. M. Pereyra (Argentina) at 2 mag. This member of the Kreutz group of sungrazing comets had passed perihelion already on Aug 23 at 0.005 au. Max tail length ~18°. The comet was last seen on Dec 18.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch
