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We examine the possibility that gamma-ray bursts arise from sources in the Oort comet cloud, basing most of our arguments on accepted models for the formation and spatial distribution of the cloud. We identify three severe problems with…
Among the near-Earth object (NEO) population there are comets and active asteroids which are sources of fragments that initially move together; in addition, some NEOs follow orbits temporarily trapped in a web of secular resonances. These…
For the better part of a century the field of nuclear astrophysics has aimed to answer fundamental questions about nature, such as the origin of the elements and the behavior of high-density, low-temperature matter. Sustained and concerted…
Despite a surface dominated by carbon-based life, the bulk composition of the Earth is dramatically carbon poor when compared to the material available at formation. Bulk carbon deficiency extends into the asteroid belt representing a…
We describe the discovery of a new kind of radio transient, which we call "early-riser bursts" or ERBs. We found this new class of source by considering traditional radio searches, but extending into the complex plane of dispersion measure.…
Orbiting detectors will be able to observe showers initiated by neutrinos penetrating the Earth and interacting close to their exit point. There is a correlation between the impact parameter of the incident neutrino and its energy. We study…
Despite their discovery potential touching a wide range of science, construction of TeV gamma-ray telescopes, Auger, IceCube and a suite of other particle astrophysics experiments has been largely motivated by the hunt for the sources of…
Chondrules are millimeter sized objects of spherical to irregular shape that constitute the major component of chondritic meteorites that originate in the region between Mars and Jupiter and which fall to Earth. They appear to have…
A verse in book I of Rigveda mentions a cosmic tree with rope-like aerial roots held up in the sky. Such an imagery might have ensued from the appearance of a comet having `tree stem' like tail, with branched out portions resembling aerial…
The origin of organic compounds detected in meteorites and comets, some of which could serve as precursors of life on Earth, still remains an open question. The aim of the present study is to make one more step in revealing the nature and…
Asteroids are leftover pieces from the era of planet formation that help us understand conditions in the early Solar System. Unlike larger planetary bodies that were subject to global thermal modification during and subsequent to their…
A recent paper by Siraj & Loeb (2021) entitled "Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction" attempts to revive the perennial debate about what type of body hit the Earth 66 million years ago, triggering the…
These proceedings address a recent publication by the ANITA collaboration of four upward- pointing cosmic-ray-like events observed in the first flight of ANITA. Three of these events were consistent with stratospheric cosmic-ray air showers…
I find evidence for clustering in age of well-dated impact craters over the last 500 Myr. At least nine impact episodes are identified, with durations whose upper limits are set by the dating accuracy of the craters. Their amplitudes and…
Meteoroids originating from the local interstellar medium, traverse the solar system. This has been proven by in situ measurements by interplanetary spacecraft as well as highly sensitive radar measurements. Early attempts to detect…
Recent documentation of extreme atmospheric sulfur and methane contents at the time of the vast Permo-Triassic (P-T) extinction makes it possible to interpret an observation that has lain unnoticed in the geological literature for 40 years.…
The Hubble Space Telescope has recently discovered thousands of gigantic comet-like objects in a ring around the central star in the nearest planetary nebula. We suggest that such circumstellar rings exist around most stars. Collisions of…
The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the workings of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. Current observations show a spectrum consistent with an…
Fast radio bursts were discovered just over a decade ago, and their origin remains a mystery. Despite this, astronomers have been using them to investigate the matter through which their bright, impulsive radiation travels.
Recent observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) at radio frequencies have proved to be a powerful tool for probing the solar environment from the ground. But how far back does this tradition really extend? Our survey of the…