The nation’s astronomy buffs are keeping their fingers crossed that an ill-fated comet that dove through the sun’s corona yesterday will survive.
The Taipei Astronomical Museum, which is leading Taiwan’s skywatchers in following the comet’s plight, said that Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) was steadily keeping its course around the sun yesterday and that it had gone behind the sun, where it was temporarily blocked from view.
“Up to 80 percent of the projections we’ve looked at have forecast that Lovejoy will be doomed eventually,” Taipei Astronomical Museum assistant researcher Chang Kuei-lan (張桂蘭) said.
“We are not sure yet whether it will be able to defy destiny, but in a sense, it’s an admirable comet,” she said.
Named after its finder, Terry Lovejoy of Australia, the comet was originally expected to disintegrate when it plowed through the sun’s hellishly hot plasma atmosphere, or corona.
However, the icy ball has survived — at least for now — after it made it through its orbit’s closest point to the sun, about 140,000km away, the museum said.
Lovejoy is likely to continue its journey on the other side of the sun, but its fate will not be learned until the weekend, the museum said.
“We will need to digest the data sent back from satellites to see if it survives the deadly encounter,” Chang said.
Lovejoy is one of the brightest Kreutz sungrazers, characterized by their orbits, which are extremely close to the sun.
Chang suggested that those interested in what happens to Lovejoy visit the museum’s Web site in the coming days.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
RSS