The Cosmic Companion VIP Newsletter March 31, 2020 - What is Comet Atlas?

Comet Atlas is coming our way, and it could become the greatest comet in a generation - or not! What do we know about this visitor from the outer Solar System?

Hi everyone!

Welcome back to The Cosmic Companion VIP newsletter! My apologies for sending this out a day late, but I have good news! This week’s episode of Astronomy News with the Cosmic Companion is a special episode, focused on Comet Atlas. This visitor from the outer solar system is growing in brightness at an amazing rate, and it may soon become the brightest comets seen from the northern hemisphere since 1997.

This is also the longest (and I think my favorite!) episode of the show - the video episode is over eight minutes long (usually five), and includes an original simulation that shows the path Comet Atlas will take through the Solar System - you are the first people to ever see it). The podcast version of this episode will consist of over 24 minutes filled with comets and mold!

On this week’s podcast episode of this show (coming Wednesday, March 31), I interview Dr. Joe Burchett of UC Santa Cruz about his work modeling ribbons between galaxies using humble slime mold.

Let’s ta…