Space Weather News for Oct. 25, 2006
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COMET OUTBURST: Astronomers report that Comet Swan has suddenly increased
in brightness 4-fold, from magnitude +6 to +4.5. This makes it a naked-eye
object in dark skies and a lovely sight through backyard telescopes. The cause
of the outburst: A new vein of volatile ice may have opened up in the
comet's nucleus. Solar heating transforms this freshly-exposed material into
streams of bright, reflective gas and dust. Indeed, backyard telescopes seem to
show new tendrils of gaseous material in the comet's long tail.
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