Spring is the season for comets

Scientists are studying other moons in the solar system and it turns out our moon is much less dynamic than others. Europa, a moon of Jupiter, is smaller than ours, but much more interesting. It has a liquid ocean beneath an icy crust and the water can actually get up onto the surface of the ice. Scientists don’t know if there is life involved yet, but can analyze the frozen water on the surface to figure out the composition. Can we use this to extrapolate whether water is on other planets? There is not enough information to do that. Also, Spring is the season for comets! The first comet this year is Panstarrs, already up into our evening sky just after sunset. Your best bet to watch is tomorrow (Tuesday) evening 30 minutes after sunset, low in the West. Look for the bright, fuzzy object in the sky. All this and more on this week’s Sky Talk.

To feed your fascination with space don’t miss To Space and Back a new show opening at the Fels Planetarium at The Franklin. You can preview the show and chat with the producers at an event on March 14th.