Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.

Comets

year
found		 closest distance
from Sun (AU)		 time to orbit
Sun (years)		 next or most recent
pass by Sun
Arend-Roland 1956 0.316 ? ?
Bennett 1970 0.538 ? ?
Biela 1772 0.861 6.62 ?
Borrelly 1904 1.358 6.68 2001
Brorsen-Metcalf 1847 0.479 70.6 2060
Chiron 1977 ? 51 2047
Churyumov-Gerasimenko 1969 1.29 6.57 2009
d'Arrest 1851 1.291 6.38 2001
Donati 1858 0.578 ? ?
Encke 1786 0.341 3.31 2003
Giacobini-Zinner 1900 1.028 6.59 1999
Grigg-Skjellerup 1808
1902 (rediscovered)		 .989 5.09 ?
Hale-Bopp 1995 0.9143 4000 1997
Halley ? 0.587 76.09 2062
Hyakutake 1996 0.23 ~30,000 ~31,500
Ikeya-Seki 1965 0.008 880 2845
IRAS-Araki-
Alcock		 1983 0.991 ? ?
Kohoutek 1973 0.142 ? ?
Lexell 1770 0.674 5.60 ?
Linear 1999 0.762 ? ?
Morehouse 1908 0.945 ? ?
Mrkos 1957 0.355 ? ?
Schwassmann-
Wachmann 1		 1908 5.448 15 2004
Schwassmann-
Wachmann 3		 1930 .937 5.36 2006
Shoemaker-Levy 9 1993 collided with Jupiter in 1994
Swift-Tuttle 1862 0.963 120 ?
Tempel 1 1867 1.5 5.51 2005
Tempel 2 1873 1.381 5.29 1999
West 1976 0.197 ? ?
Wild 2 1978 1.583 6.39 2003
Wirtanen 1948 1.063 5.46 2013

Last modified January 9, 2004 by Randy Russell.

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