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14 – Comet Envy

IrmaMarch 28, 20133comic

We have a relatively bright comet (relative to most comets viewable to us) in our skies currently. Comet PANNStars has been giving most of the Earth a little bit of a show just after sunset. Later this year we may be treated to an incredible sight as comet ISON threatens to be as bright as, if not brighter than, our moon.

Comets are chunks of ice and rock that orbit our sun. Many come from the Oort Cloud located beyond Pluto. As they reach the inner solar system and approach the sun, the ice starts to melt and the gases react with the sun’s solar wind and creates 2 tails, one of gas and one of dust, which extend behind the comet away from the sun.

The comets out there take anywhere up to 30 million years to orbit the sun one time, which is why most comets we see are once in a lifetime for us. So whenever there’s a good one out there, you’re going to want to take the opportunity to get a good look at it!

More info about comets can be found HERE.

13 – Blue Moon

IrmaSeptember 2, 20125comic

Haven’t had a chance to get this up until now since I’ve got so much to do in preparation for NYCC, and I’m starting to freak out. But it was a sad week in Space exploration not just for Earth, but for the moon too.

12 – Meteor Shower

IrmaAugust 11, 20127comic

Meteor showers happen when the Earth passes through debris which, most of the time, has been left behind from a comet. As soon as the debris hits our atmosphere it begins to burn up as it falls, which is what we see as a “shooting star.” Most of the debris is small enough that it burns up quickly and completely before it can hit the ground. This is not the case, however, with our Moon. The moon has no atmosphere so any debris it passes through will hit the surface and add to its already many craters.

Tonight the Perseids meteor shower will reach its peak, and the skies will be rather dark since the moon is a its waning crescent phase and will rise late. If you find yourself with clear skies and far from light pollution, you could possibly see around 100 meteors an hour!

11 – Curiosity Rover

IrmaAugust 5, 20126comic

(Oh and there’s a previous comic I did about Mars that goes well with current events as well! And it’s right HERE.)

Later on today (or early tomorrow morning if you’re in Europe like me) the Mars Curiosity Rover will complete its eight month journey to Mars and land on its surface in preparation to learn more about our dry neighbor, mainly if life has ever existed on the red planet. Until now, three rovers have successfully landed on Mars, this will be the Fourth. (positive thinking here, people)

Only one of the three existing rovers continues to function and send data back to Earth. In addition to the now defunct robots, there several some crash landed remnants from failed missions. With all of this equipment just laying around, perhaps Mars is collecting it all and doing something with it. You never know 😉

10 – Apollo 11

IrmaJuly 22, 20122comic

This comic was meant to go up on Friday but life got in the way, so it’s a couple of days late.

Friday marked the 43rd anniversary of the moon landing which put the first humans ever on the moon. I was born in 1980 so I missed this incredible event. But what a feeling it must have been to have witnessed it, let alone how it actually felt for the astronauts who were up there!

We* went back to the moon 5 more times. The last time was in 1972. We stopped going due to the cost of it. Basically, we’d set out to do something, and we did it. There are no official plans to return right now.

Practically, I can understand why we haven’t returned of course. But when I let my fantasy roam, I can’t help but wonder what the moon would look like at night if we had little cities up there. Imagine when we see a half moon, one half lit up from the sun, the other glittering with orange patterns. Ah… let’s all enjoy that sci-fi image for a while… 🙂

*By “we” I generally mean humans, but “we” can be read as “Americans” since it has only been American missions that have landed on the moon to date. Other countries are planning their own moon landing missions, so while Americans may not be returning any time soon, there could still be humans heading up there in the near future.

9 – Fifth Moon

IrmaJuly 11, 20122comic

Today, July 11th 2012, scientists announced the discovery of a fifth moon orbiting Pluto. We all know that the great Neil deGrasse Tyson “killed” Pluto (or was, at least, an accomplice), and the amount of moons a celestial object is nor a deciding factor in when deciding if it’s a planet or not. As an example, Earth has one moon, Saturn has around 60 moons and Venus has none. The truth is that Pluto hasn’t cleared its orbit yet, meaning that it shares its orbit with other bodies and isn’t the dominant body in that orbit.

Poor Pluto is so desperate to regain his old title, however, that he’s hoping ANYTHING can bring him back to his old status. 🙂

8 – Venus Transit

IrmaJune 3, 20125comic

First, if you’re as excited about the transit of Venus as I am happening this week, then you may want to show it with your iPhone or iPad with the Venus Transit wallpapers I made! You can find them in the blog below. Or click HERE.

Chances are, if you live in an area where the Venus Transit will be visible, then you’ve heard a LOT about it. Why is it such a big deal? Well, it’s not going to be the most spectacular thing you may ever seen, but it is one of the rarest. The next transit of Venus will not happen for another 105 years. So, chances are, this will be the only chance you get!

To read all about it check out THIS site. It has all the info you need on where and when it will be visible, and how you will be able to view it.

For me, I’m just hoping that the typical cloudy June weather here in Sweden will cease for just that morning! I have solar glasses ready and waiting!

7 – Dragon

IrmaMay 28, 20125comic

Here’s a “Cosmical” that will really test how much you’re paying attention to current events 😉 Now this one isn’t based on natural events in our skies, which is mainly “Cosmical”‘s focus, but on a human made one; a history-making one that is worthy of mention.

This past week the private company SpaceX successively launched its Falcon9 Rocket sending their Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, therefore being the very first commercial craft to ever visit the ISS. Since the ending of NASA’s Shuttle Program last year, the United States has had to rely on other for transportation to and from the ISS. In the mean time, private companies are competing to take over what was once the job of the Shuttle.

SpaceX has so far won the race there, but will they win in the end? It’s an exciting time as we watch the beginning of something new in space travel. Competition is the fire for innovation. We’ve seen this before when the US wanted to be the first to reach the Moon.

6 – Angry Sun

IrmaMay 13, 20124comic

I’ve mentioned once before that our sun is entering its Solar Maximum, meaning its highest activity in its 11 year cycle. In astronomical news right now we’re hearing a LOT about a sunspot that is much larger than Earth that is generating some pretty massive solar flares and has the possibility of generating powerful solar storms. So far, none are headed in our direction. But go HERE to read and watch a short video about the activity on the surface of our sun right now.

And if you’ve ever seen a video of the Sun unleashing a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection), you’ll see that the sun always has ways of reminding us of its power.

Oh, if you’ve never seen one, watch this:

5 – Pluto’s Denial

IrmaMay 6, 20129comic

I admit it. I am still bummed that the solar system I grew up with is not the same. Well, it IS the same, it’s just classified a bit differently. It’s still a little hard to say that we have eight planets, not nine. It’s been 6 years now, so I should just be over it, right? Well, I HAVE accepted it, I just feel a little sorry for the guy. So, of course he gets a place in Cosmical.

There are plenty of good reasons Pluto doesn’t fit in with the rest of the crew. Pluto’s orbit doesn’t lie on the same plane as all the other planets in our solar system. It’s tilted at a 17° angle. And for a portion if his orbit he’s actually closer to the Sun than Neptune is since their orbits intercept. Also, Pluto’s moon Charon is around half Pluto’s size and they, plus two tinier moons, orbit around a central point that is NOT Pluto. It’s like Pluto is running in circles chasing his tail. 😉

The big reason why Pluto isn’t a planet is because he hasn’t cleared his orbit. There’s a buch of other stuff sharing his orbit and he hasn’t dominated that orbit yet.

But I can’t obviously show any of these things in the comic. So, in Cosmical, Pluto is a cyclops. But he’s spent such a long time being accepted into the ranks of “Planet,” that he can’t really see his differences himself.

If you want to understand more about why exactly Pluto isn’t a planet then go here. There is a GREAT video to watch which should clear it all up for you.