How to protect yourself from coronavirus (in general, and CoV-19 in particular)

[librechik]

20. comet C/2019 Q4 arrived late last year from interstellar space

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7498


"The comet's current velocity is high, about 93,000 mph [150,000 kph], which is well above the typical velocities of objects orbiting the Sun at that distance," said Farnocchia. "The high velocity indicates not only that the object likely originated from outside our solar system, but also that it will leave and head back to interstellar space."

Currently on an inbound trajectory, comet C/2019 Q4 is heading toward the inner solar system. On Oct. 26, it will pass through the ecliptic plane - the plane in which Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun - from above at roughly a 40-degree angle.

C/2019 Q4 was established as being cometary due to its fuzzy appearance, which indicates that the object has a central icy body that is producing a surrounding cloud of dust and particles as it approaches the Sun and heats up. Its location in the sky (as seen from Earth) places it near the Sun - an area of sky not usually scanned by the large ground-based asteroid surveys or NASA's asteroid-hunting NEOWISE spacecraft.

C/2019 Q4 can be seen with professional telescopes for months to come. "The object will peak in brightness in mid-December and continue to be observable with moderate-size telescopes until April 2020," said Farnocchia. "After that, it will only be observable with larger professional telescopes through October 2020"


funny, a lot of global pandemics supposedly arrived "in the tail " of a comet, the theory being radiation from the exotic object caused unknown mutations in the seasonal flu. Wish that didn't make perfect sense.