So the new #Kreutz #comet #MAPS is *still* following the constant rapid rise in brightness it has shown since discovery: a dumb extrapolation - https://cobs.si/analysis/?comet=2688&from_date=2026-01-15 00:00&to_date=2026-04-30 00:00&observation_type=V&observation_type=C&plot_x_value=1&plot_y_value=1&fit_option=1&exclude_faint=on&exclude_issue=on&observer=&association=&country=&compare_values=compare - has it get 10,000-times brighter than the Sun at its extremely close perihelion which makes so sense at all, of course, physically.
"It must therefore be assumed that this increase in activity will level off significantly in the near future," writes https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/koj_2026/c2026a1/26a1eaus.htm: "More likely are parameters m m0=12.0 mag / n=4 (or even lower), which would still result in a (very short-term) maximum brightness of about –9 mag (but this would probably still be significantly too bright) – always assuming that the comet survives its perihelion passage unscathed."
For other views see http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005600/CBET005663.txt and https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.17626 and https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10236580364221799 and https://cometografia.es/cometa-kreutz-2026-a1-maps-analisis/ - and the actual brightness is tracked at https://cobs.si/obs_list?id=2688 where it has reached ~11.5 mag. now.
Last week, Trump called for the culmination of a 45-year Republican dream
and did so in a way designed to do maximum damage to the GOP
— not to mention the country.
That dream is the utter destruction of the US safety net
and the unlimited expansion of the US military.
“The United States can’t take care of daycare,” Trump blustered during a speech to faith leaders on Wednesday.
“That has to be up to a state.
We’re fighting wars.
Medicaid, Medi…
Some CNN staffers are worried about mismanagement, along with political interference, if CBS News' current leadership takes control following Paramount takeover (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/04/05/trump-cnn-at…
Meet Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), leading up to her keynote on Saturday at Southern California Linux Expo.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kimmcmahon-marketing_privac…
/*
* [...] Note that 120 sec is defined in the protocol as the maximum
* possible RTT. I guess we'll have to use something other than TCP
* to talk to the University of Mars.
* PAWS allows us longer timeouts and large windows, so once implemented
* ftp to mars will work nicely.
*/
(from /usr/src/linux/net/inet/tcp.c, concerning RTT [retransmission timeout])
Patriots, QB DeVito agree to 2-year, $7.4M deal https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48122874/patriots-qb-tommy-devito-agree-2-year-74m-deal-agent-says
Irgendwie geht im Moment das Artemis Gedöns trotz Interesse an Astronomie spurlos an mir vorbei 🤷
Ich habe damals die Mondlandung gespannt live verfolgt und auch die folgenden Apollo Missionen.
Ich glaube die Mondlandung war damals der Grund, dass sich meine Eltern den ersten SW-Fernseher angeschafft hatten.
#artemis2
Hours before Khamenei’s compound in Tehran was reduced to rubble last week,
an account under the username “magamyman” bet about $20,000 that the supreme leader would no longer be in power by the end of March.
Polymarket placed the odds at just 14 percent, netting “magamyman” a profit of more than $120,000.
Everyone knew that an attack might be in the works
—some American aircraft carriers had already been deployed to the Middle East weeks ago
—but the Iranian gove…