Double Comet Spectacular... Maybe

jd writes "CNN is reporting that two comets, named NEAT and LINEAR after the obervatories that found them, may both be visible in the sky at the same time. The prediction is that they will first be seen in the southern hemisphere in mid-April, becoming visible in the northern skies in May. This is believed to be the first time these comets have passed through the inner solar system, so astronomers are hedging their bets on how bright they will be. Guesses range from plus infinity to minus infinity."

Been looking already

[Anonymous Coward]

Been looking already. In fact, I could see the "Heaven's Gate" mothership in the tail before I even saw the nucleus. Yes, you've read it here first: Applethwait's coming home, and he wants his site back. Look out, cybersquatters!

I'm going to get ready, just like I did for Comet Kohoutek. I've got the bushel-baskets of 2-inch-high men all ready.

Guesses?

[unperson]

...so astronomers are hedging their bets on how bright they will be. Guesses range from plus infinity to minus infinity

Damn close minded scientists...are they even CONSIDERING a brightness level in the complex plane?

Re:Guesses?

[justanyone]

...so astronomers are hedging their bets on how bright they will be. Guesses range from plus infinity to minus infinity
oh yeah?!???!?!!

Well, I'm a scientist, too (I have a ... BACHELOR'S degree... in SCIENCE!).

And I say, it's going to plus double infinity squared! Nya! Feh!

(grin) (tounge is firmly in cheek here, no flames please)

Brightness

[epsilon720]

Minus infinity being, of course, the brightest. Stupid astronomers.

(I should point out that the sun has an apparent magnitude of only around -26, so minus infinity is a pretty damn bright comet.)

Re:Brightness

[HughsOnFirst]

Guess I better stock up on sunscreen, or maybe lead.

Re:Brightness

[kommakazi]

Bah you don't need those, only tinfoil hats so the super-intelligent microbes on the comets can't control your mind!!!

Re:Brightness

[bob_jordan]

Surely on a scale of brightness, minus infinity has to mean it smacks you in the face. It can't get much brighter then that.

Bob.

Coin flip

[JHromadka]

Maybe they should flip a coin to decide if the comets will be bright enough to see. ;)

Re:Coin flip

[mwheeler01]

yeah, but who can rely on the flip of a coin nowadays?

(too lazy to post a link to a previous story)

huh?

[hookedup]

They're clustering comets now?

Re:huh?

[Toxygen]

But can they run linux?

Brightness charts out for a month already

[dtolman]

Sky and Telescope has had an estimated brightness chart posted since the beginning of February. The article [skyandtelescope.com] has already been updated to say one of the comets is falling behind the initial estimated brightness. Basically - expect a good show if you have a telescope or a good set of binoculars - don't expect a spector of doom hanging in the sky...

UFO cults..

[BigZaphod]

So my guess is that behind the first one will be some intergalactic refugees running from the ship behind the second one which is loaded with intergalactic cops with kill-o-zap ray guns on their hips and a blinking red/blue light on the outside of the ship.

In order to save the helpless refugees stuck in an endless race for freedom, followers here on earth will help stick it to the man by committing suicide just in time so that as their souls rise towards the heavens, the cop ship will pass overhead and the

Re:UFO cults..

[flewp]

MOD PARENT DOWN!!! He's giving away our secrets! If too many people know about this there won't be enough room on the ships for those of us enlightened ones!

prediction...

[Spudley]

The two comets collide, and the resulting super-comet makes a NEATly-LINEAR path directly toward Earth. :-o

Re:prediction...

[Spudley]

Bah. No-one appreciates a bad pun any more. ;)

Re:prediction...

[kommakazi]

what does taking physics have to do with it? If both comets were on certain trajectories and collided while going in the same direction, it could be possible to form one larger comet.... Now the probability of this is pretty much zero, but it is possible...

Re:ruh oh

[Mr. Slippery]

He got a plane crash right in 1979

"Got it right" how? "On March 2 1979, FooBar Airlines flight 17 out of XYZ Airport will suffer engine failure and crash on takeoff", or "Somewhere near a major city in the late winter or spring there will be an accident involving a plane"?

And how many did he not get right? Make enough predictions and you'll have a few hits.

Two comets, two spacecraft

[Yeechang Lee]

Two comets? No problem. We'll just send the Messiah [imdb.com] ion spacecraft to destroy one of them, and the Freedom and Independence [imdb.com] experimental space shuttles after the other.

Gay Marriage

[Marijuana al-Shehi]

Two comets in the sky at the same time? That is obviously proof that our noble and benevolent (but egotistical and psychotic) God is preparing to punish us for destroying the sanctity of marriage! Oh wait...is this FreeRepublic or slashdot? Damn, there goes my karma!

Re:Gay Marriage

[edunbar93]

Gay marriage isn't the only thing destroying the sanctity of marriage! So are civil unions, like the one me and my wife had, since both of us are Atheists.

Except that civil unions have been legal for more than a hundred years.

But let's not get into semantics! They're pure evil I tell you! Evil!