NYC stargazers could be less than a week away from getting a glimpse of a comet blazing its way through the cosmos as Comet C/2026 A1 MAPS passes just 89 million miles from Earth.
New York City stargazers could be less than a week away from getting a glimpse of a comet blazing its way through the cosmos as Comet C/2026 A1 MAPS passes just 89 million miles from Earth. The roughly 1-mile diameter “sun grazer” comet — named for its close proximity to our solar system’s only star — is expected to pick up a generous dose of radiation from the sun as it passes, which will give it a brilliant bright glow and a lengthy tail.
The comet will appear high in the sky between April 5-8 after its solar radiation bath, and can be best spied by gazing to the southwest at dusk where the sun is setting. Experts are hoping it puts on a dazzling lightshow — on par with the brightness of a neighboring planet — but as is the case with all things celestial, there are no guarantees. Oil heir ordered to pay historic $1.1B after brutally attacking toddler stepson, putting him in wheelchair Cops make horrifying discovery at California home of sicko accused of recording families at his vacation mansion 'No Kings' protests turn violent in Portland, LA and Dallas — as rally near Mar-a-Lago takes bizarre turn “As exciting as they might be, sometimes they just peter out on us, but it’s got a lot of potential. It could be as bright as Venus.” The comet could also disintegrate as it passes the sun, which would rob New Yorkers of an early-spring cosmic lightshow. The latter half of April also presents an opportunity to see the night sky dotted with shooting stars during the Lyrids meteor shower, expected between April 14-30, and peaking April 21-22 when as many as 20 meteors could appear each hour.Capping off an April full of chances to spy some free out-of-this-world entertainment courtesy of comets and meteors will be the NASA’s first manned moon launch in 50 years — expected to blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida sometime this month, as weather permits. The 10-day mission won’t involve any astronauts making lunar landfall, but instead travel in a figure-eight path around the Earth and moon as a test of the space agency’s launch system for the upcoming Artemis III, in which humans are planned to land on the moon by 2028. If all goes as planned, it will be the first time human beings walked on the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. Oil heir ordered to pay historic $1.1B after brutally attacking toddler stepson, putting him in wheelchair Cops make horrifying discovery at California home of sicko accused of recording families at his vacation mansion 'No Kings' protests turn violent in Portland, LA and Dallas -- as rally near Mar-a-Lago takes bizarre turnGina Gershon turned down a lead in hit horror franchise over ‘exploitative’ nude scene‘Love Story’ Ending Explained: Were JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette Planning Their Divorce When Their Plane Crashed? “I’m So Sorry, Mommy”: Savannah Guthrie’s Teary ‘Today’ Apology To Her Missing Mother Will Break Your Heart Howie Mandel Sparks Tense Moment On ‘Live’ After Finding Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Compliment Backhanded: “Like Saying, ‘You’re Smart For A Stupid Person’” Starbucks’ Hannah Montana Drink Flavor Fail Sends Fans Into Furious Frenzy: “Did We FORGET In The Show She HATES Raspberry” Stream It Or Skip It: 'Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole' On Netflix, Where A Troubled Detective Tracks Down A Serial Killer Who Is Terrorizing Oslo
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