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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


The next great comet?

Amateur astronomer Jason Lewis sent me an email today describing how the amateur astronomy community is abuzz with the discovery of a new comet, presently dubbed C/2012 S1, that is due to make its dive around the Sun in late November 2013 and pass closest to the Earth in January 2014 at a distance of about 37 million miles. Based on the preliminary numbers, this comet might be one of the brightest in years, almost certainly a naked eye object and visible to everyone from both the northern and southern hemispheres.

To quote the comments from one astronomy forum:

Now, comet discoveries are run-of-the-mill, but this one is special!!

  • The orbit is almost perfectly parabolic, it is e = 0.999999964 – this implies the comet came from very far out and is possibly an Oort cloud comet. Such comets are usually on their first dive into the inner Solar System and are thus still loaded with volatiles (but can fizzle like Kohoutek…).
  • The perihelion (in late November 2013, it seems) is at q = 0.012453 AU!! This is just a few solar radii out!! A Sungrazer!
  • It will pass 0.4 AU from Earth in January 2014!
  • It will never go more southerly than Dec. = -22, so should be well-observable from both hemispheres!!

All in all, this is the recipe for a possible Great Comet!! It’s reasonably likely to be a naked-eye object at least, and maaayyybe it will be similar to McNaught!

The comet was discovered by by the ISON-Kislovodsk Observatory, a robotic 0.4 meter telescope located in Russia.

Several things to note. If the orbit as presently calculated is correct, this comet comes from very far away, and is almost certainly making its first close pass to the Sun. As noted above, this means it is more likely to be loaded with primitive ice that will produce a bright tail and nucleus. That it is also passing so close to the Sun will possibly enhance its brightness. We might even see the thing break up as it goes around the Sun.

Moreover, if the present orbit is correct, this comet will provide a good show, visible to everyone in the evening hours. Stay tuned for something quite spectacular. The quote above refers to Comet McNaught from 2007, which was one the brightest comets in decades but unfortunately didn’t put on its show for the northern hemisphere. Let us hope that this new comet is more accommodating.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

2 comments

  • Dale Martin

    Oh Great! Now we will get the usual supects telling us this is “Maubus’ Comet” or some such…George Noory will have lots to talk about now…I imagine every eschatological cult and those of similar leaning will come out with both guns blazing…I can hardly wait for the onslaught of unsupported gratuitous assertions and outright baloney…I guess now that the last comet cult is gone, another one will crank up!! I am sure some “Remote Viewer” will tell us there is an alien space ship following it, or Bara and Hoagland will come up with something 19.5 and 33 for sure! Golly! how I miss Long John Nebel and those innocent times!!

    Dale

  • Zed_Noir

    Wonder if there is time to put together a flyby sampling mission to this comet.

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