Comets, Shooting Stars And Asteroids

Ukraine issued a stamp to commemorate the Illinetski meteor impact area. The Ilyinets impact crater is some 378 million years old and is over 5 miles in diameter. It is no longer visible on the surface. Scott 330, issued December 25, 1998.

Greenland issued a stamp to commemorate the centenary of the Scientific Research Commission. The stamp depicts an etched slice of the Cape York iron medium octahedrite meteorite. This meteorite contains the iron-nickel alloys of kamacite and taenite, with traces of troilite. Robert E. Peary, the famous Arctic explorer, was able to locate it in 1894 with the help of an Inuit guide. News of the meteorite's existence was known from at least 1818, but no modern day explorers could find it. The Inuit had known of its existence for some time. There are at least eight large pieces that have been recovered, from 17 pounds up to 34 tons. Scott 107, issued January 20, 1978.

Southwest Africa issued a set of four stamps for historic sites in their country. One stamp illustrated the Hoba iron ataxite meteorite, the largest meteorite known to date estimated to weigh around 60 tons. It is believed to have impacted Earth less than 80,000 years ago. Scott 601, issued March 3, 1988.

Russia issued a stamp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tungus (Tunguska) meteor that exploded before it struck the ground in 1908. The stamp also commemorates the 75th anniversary of the birth of L.A. Kulik, who's team was the first to reach the remote site of the explosion. L. Kulik would later die in World War II in a prisoner of war camp from typhus on April 24, 1942. Scott 2088, issued August 12, 1958.

Germany issued a stamp for the City of Nordlingen. I include it here because the city was built at least, partially within the Nordlingen Ries crater. The object that created the crater struck some 14 million years ago and the size of the original crater is believed to be about 15 miles in diameter. Scott 1989, issued January 22, 1998.

Argentina issued a souvenir sheet on the Campo del Cielo iron meteorite. More than a dozen craters exist, and the impact occurred more than 4,000 years ago. This meteorite was known by 1576, but the natives in the area knew about it much earlier. The largest mass is 37 tons. Scott number 2445, issued in 2007.

International Geophysical Year 1957/58


...........comet over an observatory.

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958 in a period of maximum sunspot activity
when scientists from over sixty countries studied the solar -terrestrial environment.

100 years of Avèe iron meteorite - 2008



special postmark commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the meteorite`s fall

The Avce iron meteorite landed in Slovenia in 31.3.1908 at the time of the Austrian Hungarian empire.
It weighs 1230 grams, its largest dimension is 11 cm.
It consists of iron, 5.5% nickel and trace elements (gallium, germanium, arsenic...).
It is permanently exhibited in the hall of meteorites in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

Visit of Halley's Comet and Giotto Mission.
Issued by Peru in 1986

Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich (1914-1987)



Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich was a Soviet physicist born in Belarus.
He played an important role in the development of Soviet nuclear and thermonuclear weapons.
The asteroid discovered in 1973 by Smirnova on the Crimean astrophysical observatory is named by him: 11438 Zeldoviè.

Spacecraft Giotto



Giotto a European robotic spacecraft was launched in 1986 to study Halley`s comet.
It approached Halley`s nucleus at a close distance of 596 km.
The spacecraft was named after the Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone.

Astronomical Phenomena


..................comet...........................meteor shower

Germany
Halley's Comet
February 13, 1986
The design shows the Halley's Comet and the Giotto spacecraft. Giotto was launched on July 2, 1985 and encountered the comet on March 13, 1986, at a distance of 0.89 AU from the sun and 0.98 AU from the Earth and an angle of 107 degrees from the comet-sun line. The actual closest approach was measured at 596 km.

Bulgaria
Orbit of Halley's Comet
March 7, 1986
The design shows the astronomer Edmond Halley (1656 - 1742) who is best known for computing the orbit of the eponymous Halley's Comet.

Ascension Island
Rosetta Mission
December 30, 2014
Rosetta is a space probe built by the European Space Agency launched on March 2, 2004. Along with Philae, its lander module, Rosetta is performing a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P).