SpaceRocks - LOOK UP

19/12/2025

So there goes the 'alien battleship', the most widely misunderstood and swooned-about celestial visitor since the Egyptians first saw Halley's Comet. Social media cawed over the possibilities (even the likelihood) that this was not usual, and Earth was in danger. And it turned out to be just another comet. A rather beautiful one, as it turned out, but fairly normal in approach, emission, and velocity.
The lessons? Don't be fooled by media-driven speculators. Get the truth from reputable outlets. Look. Up. Happy Christmas all.

3I/ATLAS has now made its closest approach to the sun and Earth and is now heading back out toward the outer solar system.

28/11/2025

OH. MY. GOD.

[From Space.com]
Here are some key things the agency (NASA) revealed about the interstellar visitor ...

1) 'This object is a comet' - "We very much want to find signs of life in the universe," NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said during the briefing. "But 3I/ATLAS is a comet. It looks and behaves like a comet, and all evidence points to it being a comet."
So, although an alien world in the true sense, it does not have any bad intentions or weird stuff going on.
2) Scientists are confident that 3I/ATLAS will come no closer than 170 million miles (270 million kilometres) to Earth. It will also not come close to any other planets during its passage.
Phew! That was close.
3) Scientists have detected a higher-than-usual ratio of carbon dioxide to water compared with typical solar system comets and the dust around the comet shows slightly atypical properties, suggesting its grain sizes differ from those of local comets.
Note: what the hell is 'usual' about any comet?

So, another media spawned cosmic event turns to (slightly atypical) dust, but I'm sure Hollywood will love it and Trump will no doubt take credit for keeping Earth safe until the next crisis.

In the meantime .. keep watching the skies. LOOK. UP.

https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/3iatlas/2025/11/19/nasa-esas-soho-observes-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas/

The ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, spacecraft captured a glimpse of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on Oct.

20/11/2025

After NASA released a trove of imagery of 3I/Atlas, we felt that its only fair that you all benefit
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/3i-atlas/comet-3i-atlas-image-gallery/

Enjoy! The Cosmos is there for you .. LOOK UP!

A gallery of images from NASA missions observing the rare, interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.

19/11/2025

Today's bonus .. black holes (woooo!)

Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, general relativity, may not be the best recipe to describe black holes.

12/11/2025

And what about 2024 YR4? Various media reports range from hitting the Moon to a Rapture .. difficult to take NASA seriously atm so here's what ESA say about it.
We have a number of space activities looking to go to the Moon in the next years, so this could (4%?) get spicy ..

Asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines earlier this year when its probability of impacting Earth in 2032 rose as high as 3%. While an Earth impact has now been ruled out, the asteroid’s story continues.The final glimpse of the asteroid as it faded out of view of humankind’s most powerful tel...

12/11/2025

A very cool look at your 'next 5' visitors, as illuminated by JPL. I suggest you add this to your 'must visit' list soonest.

Explore the 3D world of Asteroids, Comets and NEOs. Learn about past and future missions, tracking and predicting orbits, and close approaches to Earth.

12/11/2025

BBC SaN putting to bed some of those pesky 'aliens' theories with trusted science.

Despite claims that 3I/ATLAS may be an alien spaceship, a growing body of observations reveals it's a natural comet. Here's the evidence.

12/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bq38Vc6Zx/

We boost UK prosperity, understand the Universe, and protect our planet and outer space.

04/07/2025

Visitors always welcome in this Solar System (apart from Trump's US, of course, who will likely find it too expensive to be looking).

Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of a rare celestial visitor: a comet from beyond our Solar System.Officially named 3I/ATLAS, this newly identified interstellar object is only the third of its kind ever observed, following the famous 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.

10/05/2025

Update on the return of Kosmos 482. The calculated impact is now 1840UTC on 10th May, along the track shown below. With an uncertainty of +/- 90 minutes, the location could lie anywhere on the tracks shown.
Moscow lies on the track ... we can only hope it goes home to Mama

01/05/2025

For you this morning, something more unusual .. but no less alarming. The USSR remains as irresponsible now as pre-1989. Russia will not accept ownership of this POOS. We can only hope it returns 'home' safely.

The spacecraft was designed to survive falling through Venus's atmosphere. 53 years after launch, it's coming back.

25/02/2025

As expected, 2024 YR4 is no longer a 'city-killer', 'planet-destroyer' or even a worry, at least for the foreseeable future. We can go back to making the planet uninhabitable on our own.

The latest analysis from the European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Defence Office has reduced the probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 might impact Earth in 2032 to 0.001%.