[News] 'Dark' comets may pose threat to Earth

[Moontanman]

'Dark' comets may pose threat to Earth

 

SWATHES of dark comets may be prowling the solar system, posing a deadly threat to Earth.

 

Hazardous comets and asteroids are monitored by various space agencies under an umbrella effort known as Spaceguard. The vast majority of objects found so far are rocky asteroids. Yet UK-based astronomers Bill Napier at Cardiff University and David Asher at Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland claim that many comets could be going undetected. "There is a case to be made that dark, dormant comets are a significant but largely unseen hazard," says Napier

 

'Dark' comets may pose threat to Earth - space - 11 February 2009 - New Scientist