Updating the latest information on the failed Mars probe. Re-entry is predicted to be January 15, at 5:52 UTC ± 14 hours. That would be at 12:52PM EST ± 14 hours. As you can see, there is still a large space of uncertainty as to the re-entry time, and location. The current prediction would place the probe over southern South America at the time of re-entry, which would give the probe a good chance of falling into the Southern Atlantic Ocean. With the uncertainty of when the probe will make re-entry, the ground track is very large.

Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy is so bright that it can now be seen with the unaided eye for more than an hour before sunrise, in the southern hemisphere. Dawn sightings of Comet Lovejoy are now widespread around the Southern Hemisphere. The tilt of the comet's orbit does not favor sightings in the northern hemisphere. The visibility of Comet Lovejoy should continue to improve in the days ahead for southern hemisphere observers as the comet moves farther away from the sun. Here are more photos of the spectacular show that we're missing.

Comet Lovejoy plunged through the sun's corona at about 7 p.m. EST, on December 15, 2011, coming within 87,000 miles of the star's surface. Temperatures in the corona can reach 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, so most researchers expected the icy wanderer to be completely destroyed. But the comet survived.

Since it's close encounter with the Sun, Comet Lovejoy has been putting on a show for observers in the southern hemisphere. The following photos show the comets tail stretching up from the horizon just before sunrise, in various locations throughout the southern hemisphere.

A newfound comet defied long odds yesterday, surviving a suicidal dive through the sun's hellishly hot atmosphere, according to NASA scientists.

Comet Lovejoy plunged through the sun's corona at about 7 p.m. EST, coming within 87,000 miles (140,000 kilometers) of the star's surface. Temperatures in the corona can reach 2 million degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 million degrees Celsius), so most researchers expected the icy wanderer to be completely destroyed.

The Leonid meteor shower is known for its occasional wild swings in activity from year to year. This year, it peaks before dawn on November 18. Unfortunately, that’s just when a Last Quarter Moon lies near the shower’s originating point, or radiant, in Leo the Lion.

Asteroid 2005 YU55 made a close pass of the Earth yesterday coming within the orbit of the Moon to do so. The asteroid was approximately 220,000 miles away from Earth at it's closest point. The Moon, at it's closest point in it's elliptical orbit is roughly 225,622 miles.

Observers with ground based telescopes were able to view the asteroid as it made it's pass, but it appeared only as a dot of light (much like that of a satellite) as it moved through the night sky. The link below is to a video that shows what observers with telescopes saw as the piece of rock flew by.

I spoken here before about watching satellites as they glide across the night sky, but I've never been able to show a good depiction of what you should look for, should you try to spot one yourself. Until now. The video below shows two satellites as they glide by the star Regulus. The first satellite was SkyMed-2,
part of a constellation of Earth observing satellites
deployed by the Italian Space Agency. The second, brighter satellite is Tiangong 1, China's new space station.

Mark your calendars for an impressive and upcoming flyby of an asteroid.  Asteroid 2005 YU55,
a round mini-world that is about 400 meters (1,300 feet) in diameter, will approach Earth within a scant 0.85 lunar distances. To put that into perspective, the asteroid will be closer to the Earth at one point in it's fly by, than the Moon will.

Earth is about to
pass through a stream of debris from Halley's comet,
source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Forecasters
expect the shower to peak on Saturday morning, Oct.
22nd, with more than 15 meteors per hour.

The Orionid meteor shower is the second of two
showers that occur each year as a result of Earth passing through dust
released by Halley's Comet. The point from where the Orionid meteors appear to radiate is located within the constellation Orion.