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Tag: Comet

  • Philae Gets A Google Doodle (Already)

    Philae Gets A Google Doodle (Already)

    Philae, European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Rosetta mission probe, has soft-landed on a comet. This is the first time in history this has been done.

    It didn’t take Google long to whip up a Doodle to celebrate this amazing feat.

    “Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General. “With Rosetta we are opening a door to the origin of planet Earth and fostering a better understanding of our future. ESA and its Rosetta mission partners have achieved something extraordinary today.”

    “After more than 10 years travelling through space, we’re now making the best ever scientific analysis of one of the oldest remnants of our Solar System,” said Alvaro Giménez, ESA’s Director of Science and Robotic Exploration. “Decades of preparation have paved the way for today’s success, ensuring that Rosetta continues to be a game-changer in cometary science and space exploration.”

    Here’s an ESA video featuring some highlights.

    Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2014. It traveled 6.4 billion kilometers through the Solar System before arriving at the comet in August. ESA has a lot more on the mission here.

  • Meteor Storm Not Over: Watch For Comet Caboose Weds.

    Meteor Storm Not Over: Watch For Comet Caboose Weds.

    Did you witness the witching hour light show in the sky this morning?

    Me neither. It’s always nice to see these kinds of events live; but if you’re like me, you might have missed the Camelopardalid meteor shower on account of cloudy skies. Lucky for the both of us, media capturing the cosmic firework display was posted all over the web today. What’s more – we haven’t necessarily missed the entire dusty trail of Comet-209P/LINEAR. In fact, the tail end of the meteor storm should pass by Earth – starting tonight and visible on Wednesday.

    Although the storm wasn’t as intense as some anticipated, scientists chock this up to “unknowns”.

    That is to say, our current models aren’t as good at predicting meteor showers induced by Jupiter family comets. Because Comet-209P/Linear is among these, the gravity of the massive planet is among the variables making predictions difficult. Another reason forecasts may have been off is because the best way we can determine meteor shower characteristics is based off previous models. Because this guy wasn’t discovered until 2004 (and doesn’t swing around but once every five years), it didn’t give scientists much with which to work.

    “Although this is a far cry from predictions, it is hardly a surprise,” says astronomer Tony Philips of Spaceweather.com. He added, “The parent comet, 209P/LINEAR, is faint and currently produces only a small amount of dust. Most forecasters acknowledged that there might be less dust in Earth’s path than the models suggested.”

    If you’re bummed about missing the show, you might still be able to catch the tail end.

    Provided it’s clear enough on Wednesday, it should be visible in the north sky with a consumer model 3-inch-reflector telescope. If you’re ill equipped to see it, watch the celestial eye goodies unfold live. Also, if you’d like to plan ahead for more atmospheric awesomeness, mark your comet calendars for Perseid meteor shower – which is in August.

    But just in case – you might check the skies tonight. Phillips suggested the spectacle might have fallen short of Earth shattering because perhaps the main event has yet to come. He said, “Another possibility is that the shower is not a dud, just delayed,” and then went on to add, “If models mis-located the debris zone, an outburst could still occur later on May 24th.”

    Hey! That’s today!

    Anyone else got last minute plans for a stellar Saturday night?


    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Rosetta Spacecraft Successfully Reactivated

    The European Space Agency (ESA) today announced that the Rosetta spacecraft has successfully reactivated. The probe has been traveling in a suspended state beyond the orbit of Jupiter since June 2011.

    Rosetta’s internal alarm functioned as planned and the spacecraft was able to reboot itself this morning before sending a signal to Earth. Later this year the spacecraft will approach comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it soars toward the sun.

    “We have our comet-chaser back,” says Alvaro Giménez, director of Science and Robotic Exploration at ESA. “With Rosetta, we will take comet exploration to a new level. This incredible mission continues our history of ‘firsts’ at comets, building on the technological and scientific achievements of our first deep space mission Giotto, which returned the first close-up images of a comet nucleus as it flew past Halley in 1986.”

    Rosetta will be the first spacecraft to attempt a landing on the surface of a comet. The spacecraft will provide data on the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet for over one year, giving researchers plenty of data with which to uncover the objects’ mysteries.

    Rosetta is expected to rendezvous with the comet in August. In the meantime, researchers will be checking the spacecraft’s systems and readying it for a “major maneuver” that will take place in May.

    Image via ESA-C.Carreau

  • Fate of Comet ISON Still Undetermined

    Fate of Comet ISON Still Undetermined

    More than one week on from comet ISON‘s close approach to the sun, astronomers are still working hard to determine what exactly happened to the object.

    The comet approached the sun on November 28 after traveling for millions of years from outside our solar system. NASA and ESA researchers used a wide array of instruments to capture the comet’s approach, including NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. For several hours during the comet’s approach astronomers were not able to observe the object due to the sun’s brightness, and many had assumed that the comet had disintegrated due to its proximity to the sun. However, NASA and ESA instruments were able to catch a glimpse of what was left of the comet on its way out of its approach.

    Following its approach, astronomers observed a glint that was far less bright than the comet had been in the days previous to the approach. In the days since the object has faded away to almost nothing. Researchers are now trying to work out whether the remainder seen after approach was the ice core of the comet that survived or whether it was simply reduced to debris by that time.

    NASA today stated that researchers are continuing to research exactly what happened while the comet was out of view. What can be confirmed already is that the comet shrank “considerably” during its approach and that at this time it is likely only dust.

    Astronomers are hoping that the vast amount of data collected on ISON will provide new discoveries for years to come. A video of the comet’s approach and the aftermath was released this week by NASA. The footage comes from the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):

  • Comet ISON Moving Closer to Sun for Thanksgiving

    Many are preparing to draw closer together on Thanksgiving, and that includes space interaction as well. Comet ISON, which has more popularly been referred to as the “comet of the century” is currently continuing on the pathway to approach the sun’s vicinity. The closest encounter will be on November 28th, which just happens to also be Thanksgiving. The comet is anticipated to scrape close to the sun, just barely missing an impact by 730,000 miles. That may seem far, but is relatively close by space standards. There are present debates raging over whether the comet will sustain the energy force inherent from such a close encounter.

    Comet ISON even has an app, called Cometwatch, dedicated exclusively to potentially tracking the progress of the comet. Though the comet will draw closest on Thanksgiving day, stargazers may want to continue watching. Current estimations project that the comet will appear to be the most luminous in December. Comet ISON was discovered through the use of International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) by two relatively inexperienced Russian astronomers (Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok) in September of 2012. The comet is officially named C/2012 S1 (ISON).

    According to Alan MacRobert, who is the senior editor for Sky & Telescope magazine, the comet may prove to be a glorious spectacular in the sky, or the event may be virtually almost unrecognizable. “We might witness a nice, long-tailed comet visible to the naked eye that will leave millions of people with fond memories for a lifetime. Or maybe it will be a small comet for sky hunters using binoculars and a good map of its position. Or it might yet break up and vanish,” he said.

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Leonid Meteor Shower Expected This Weekend

    The long awaited annual mid-November Leonid meteor shower will peak this weekend. The only problem is that the full moon’s glare may obstruct the annual celestial show.

    Assuming that the skies are clear during the peak viewing times, which will be just before the dawn on Sunday morning, you might just see Leonid streaks as well as a comet called ISON (the comet is visible to the naked eye). At its peak, you can expect to see more than 10 meteors per hour. Universe Today estimates the peak time to be about 5 a.m. ET Sunday. The wee hours are best for viewing the Leonid showers because that is when the Earth is turning more directly to the trails left behind by the comet Tempel-Tuttle.

    Here’s what it looked like last year

    The Leonids are so named because they appear to be coming from constellation Leo the Liona in the East – that is another good clue. During the predawn hours, the radiant is high up in the eastern sky; therefore, that is a good place to start with. If you face the east, the Leonid showers should be visible all the way across the sky. The Northeast and across the Southwest have been touted to be best locations to view the showers this weekend.

    (main image via Wikipedia)

  • Comet ISON – Find It With An App

    The super comet ISON is burning brighter as it gets closer to earth and if you want to see it before it passes and is gone for good, the time is now. ISON is now visible with the naked eye and is scheduled to come its closest to the sun on Thanksgiving.

    The comet was first spotted last year by two Russian amateur astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. As the comet passes the sun, if it survives, it could offer a beautiful light show in the sky in the weeks following Thanksgiving.

    Many telescope owners have been watching comet ISON for the last few weeks. Now that it is visible to the naked eye, more and more sky watchers are interested in seeing it. The key to spotting the comet is knowing where to look and this, can sometimes be easier said than done.

    To help sky watchers find the comet in the sky, a new app called CometWatch is now available for iPhone and iPad. The new app will help point users in the direction of Comet ISON so they have a better chance of seeing it. Comets have been known to have somewhat unpredictable paths. Once the app has located the comet, users can find it in the sky with the naked eye or a telescope.

    The app was developed by a company called called Distant Suns and released with Astronomy magazine. Download the app on iTunes and grab a telescope and a camera and see if you can capture an amazing image of comet ISON.

    Image from Wikimedia Commons.

  • Rosetta Spacecraft to Wake Up In January

    Rosetta Spacecraft to Wake Up In January

    The European Space Agency (ESA) today marked a milestone in the Rosetta mission to study comets. After being launched nearly one decade ago the spacecraft is now nearing its main objective, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In 100 days time, the Rosetta probe will awake and begin the final leg of its journey to the comet. According to the ESA, the spacecraft has been in a “deep-space hibernation” since July 2011.

    “We are very excited to have this important milestone in sight, but we will be anxious to assess the health of the spacecraft after Rosetta has spent nearly 10 years in space,” said Fred Jansen, Rosetta mission manager at ESA.

    Rosetta is expected to wake up on the morning of January 20, 2014. It will then tune-up its navigation controls, point its antenna at Earth, and report its condition to researchers. At that point, the probe will still have around 9 million km (5.6 million miles) to go before reaching its target. It is scheduled to arrive at its destination sometime near the end of May.

    Once the Rosetta probe reaches the comet, it will conduct a thorough examination of the object. In addition to thousands of pictures, the mass, shape and coma of the comet will all be examined. The surface of the comet will also be mapped extensively next fall, before Rosetta releases its Philae probe to the object’s surface in November 2014 – the first-ever comet landing attempt. The surface probe will use ice screws and harpoons to secure itself to the comet, then send back images of the surface while drilling into and analyzing the make-up of the comet’s surface.

    “For the first time we will be able to analyze a comet over an extended period of time – it is not just a flyby,” said Matt Taylor, a Rosetta project scientist at ESA. “This will give us a unique insight into how a comet ‘works’ and ultimately help us to decipher the role of comets in the formation of the Solar System,”

  • Comet ISON: Will it Be “Comet of the Century”?

    Comet ISON was set to be the “comet of the century”, but with just two months to go before peak viewing, which will be Thanksgiving day in the U.S., some scientists say that the sizzle just won’t be there, according to space.com. However, some say that it will earn its title. We’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out who’s right, but what are the reasons behind each camp’s hypothesis?

    Comet ISON will fly by at about 3/4 of a million miles within the surface of the sun. The comet was hidden by the sun for the bulk of the summer, and just began to come into view in the darker skies of August. The comet’s brightness seemed to fizzle at first, with some hoping that it would re-emerge after the summer brighter than before. It did emerge brighter, but it was still six times fainter than originally forcasted.

    Astronomer Bruce Gary was the first to photograph ISON on August 12th, and he sides with those who say that the comet will be a big disappointment. “I’ve begun to lose interest in this comet which may never become visible to the unaided eye. I wonder why someone ever suggested that it could become the ‘comet of the century’.”

    However, Karl Battams, astronomer with the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., is more optomistic and sides with the camp that is holding out hope that the ISON could still earn “comet of the century” glory. “Certainly we’d love it to be a couple magnitudes brighter, but right now, it’s doing just fine. I’d say it’s still on course to become a very eye-catching object.”

    Earlier last month, a consensus of reputable observers revealed the comet to be 600 times fainter than the dimmest star that can be observed with the naked eye and the comet’s head appeared to be about 1/30th the size of the moon. Since then the comet has nearly doubled in brightness. Of course, more time will be needed to see just how bright ISON will get.

    Image via space.com

  • NASA: Deep Impact Spacecraft Officially Dead

    NASA: Deep Impact Spacecraft Officially Dead

    Earlier this month, NASA revealed that its scientists and engineers were still attempting to contact the Deep Impact spacecraft. Contact with the probe was lost in early August, and researchers now believe Deep Impact suffered a software glitch, causing its computers to constantly reboot. With the spacecraft unable to control its attitude, NASA’s attempts to contact the probe were made harder.

    This weekend NASA announced that its attempts to contact Deep Impact have ceased. The mission has officially been ended after one month without contact with the spacecraft. The agency believes that the same error which made it difficult to determine the position of the probe’s radio antenna also prevented the craft’s solar array from pointing toward the sun. Without solar power, Deep Impact’s battery and propulsion systems may have become frozen.

    “Despite this unexpected final curtain call, Deep Impact already achieved much more than ever was envisioned,” said Lindley Johnson, the Discovery program executive at NASA Headquarters. “Deep Impact has completely overturned what we thought we knew about comets and also provided a treasure trove of additional planetary science that will be the source data of research for years to come.”

    Deep Impact was launched in January 2005 on a mission to study the comet Tempel 1. In July 2005 the spacecraft deployed a probe that hit the comet, allowing researchers to examine material from the inside of the comet. After completing its primary mission, Deep Impact logged around 4.7 billion miles in the solar system, traveling to study the comets Hartley 2, C/2009 P1, and ISON.

    “Six months after launch, this spacecraft had already completed its planned mission to study comet Tempel 1,” said Tim Larson, Deep Impact project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “But the science team kept finding interesting things to do, and through the ingenuity of our mission team and navigators and support of NASA’s Discovery Program, this spacecraft kept it up for more than eight years, producing amazing results all along the way.”

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • NASA Still Trying to Contact Lost Deep Impact Spacecraft

    NASA Still Trying to Contact Lost Deep Impact Spacecraft

    NASA today provided a brief update about the Deep Impact spacecraft, which the agency has lost contact with. NASA scientists and engineers are still attempting to contact the probe, but have had no success.

    Just over one month ago, on August 8, NASA lost contact with the Deep Impact spacecraft. The agency now believes that the probe’s software has glitched, and that its computers are currently rebooting themselves over and over.

    Deep Impact was launched in early 2005 on a mission to study comets. The spacecraft has traveled nearly 4.7 billion miles since that time. Deep Impact arrived at the comet Tempel 1 during the summer following its launch, successfully launching an probe that hit the comet. In the years since, the spacecraft has helped researchers observe the Hartley 2, C/2009 P1, and ISON comets.

    With Deep Impact’s computers now unavailable, NASA believes the spacecraft has no way to control its thrusters. Unable to control the probe’s attitude, researchers cannot be sure of the position of the craft’s antennas – making the task of contacting it that much harder. The lack of control also means the spacecraft’s solar array may not be pointed toward the sun, raising concerns about how much power Deep Impact still has.

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • Amazon Options Movie About Comet The Non-Red-Nosed Reindeer

    Amazon Studios, Amazon’s original content production arm, announced today that it has optioned a film project called Comet, a movie about one of Santa’s reindeer not named Rudolph.

    Yes, it’s been done before. Kind of:

    But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a very different story. Besides, Prancer came out in 1989.

    Comet is described as “the underdog story of a small but determined reindeer who will face seemingly insurmountable odds to save his family’s home and join Santa’s elite sleigh team.”

    Different enough.

    Under “creative notes” on the project page, it says, “Capitalizes on a movie-going trend of ‘origin stories’ by creating one for a universally known Christmas character in a family-friendly yet sophisticated way. Script utilizes common traits from successful ‘hero’s journey’-type mythologies as well as the beats/formatting that Hollywood studios look for. ‘Comet’ has the necessary components and potential to be the next great animated franchise.”

    Earlier this week, Amazon Studios put out a couple elevator pitches for other movie projects it has in the works.

  • Comet ISON Could Put On a Great Light Show

    Comet ISON Could Put On a Great Light Show

    In November of 2013, the universe is throwing a “dirty snowball” right within sight of our Earth. And it could end up being a spectacular sight.

    Comet ISON, named after the International Scientific Optical Network, a Russian program that discovered the comet last year. This particular comet is anywhere from 1 to 10 kilometers in size, based on what can be seen of it at this point. It just looks like a tiny speck right now.

    But ISON is a “sun-grazer”. It will fly through the sun’s atmosphere little more than a million km from the stellar surface. And as it nears the sun, it will start shedding ice and particles from its surface, really becoming visible. But a comet that gets this close to the sun could even fly completely apart, the result of which would be a magnificent light show. Even if it survives this trip past the sun, it could emerge glowing as brightly as the Moon, briefly visible near the sun in broad daylight. The comet’s dusty tail stretching into the night sky could create a worldwide sensation.

    Or the whole thing could fizzle. Some reporters have started calling ISON the “Comet of the Century,” but Don Yeomans of NASA Near-Earth Object Program thinks that’s premature.

    “I’m old enough to remember the last ‘Comet of the Century’,” he says. In 1973, a distant comet named Kohoutek looked like it would put on a great show, much like ISON. The actual apparition was such a let-down that Johnny Carson made jokes about it on the Tonight Show. “It fizzled,” says Yeomans. “Comets are notoriously unpredictable.”

    The trouble with comets is that they are basically “dirty snowballs” flying toward the sun. Tidal forces and solar radiation have been known to destroy comets. A recent example is Comet Elenin, which broke apart and dissipated in 2011 as it approached the sun.

    However, another comet that we could compare ISON to is Comet Lovejoy, which flew through the sun’s atmosphere in 2011. Lovejoy emerged intact and wowed observers with a garish tail for weeks.

    “Comet ISON is probably at least twice as big as Comet Lovejoy and will pass a bit farther from the sun’s surface,” notes Matthew Knight of the Lowell Observatory. “This would seem to favor Comet ISON surviving and ultimately putting on a good show.”

    If ISON does make it through it’s whip around the sun on Thanksgiving Day, it could be visible all night in parts of December and January.

    Even if ISON breaks up, there is no danger to Earth. The pieces would continue right along the same path the original comet was on.

  • Comet ISON Spotted by NASA’s Deep Impact

    Comet ISON Spotted by NASA’s Deep Impact

    NASA‘s Deep Impact spacecraft has snapped several images of the comet ISON (C/2012 S1). The images were obtained over 36 hours on January 17 and 18, from a distance of 793 million km (493 million miles). The comet is expected to come within 1.8 million km (1.1 million miles) of the sun and burn bright enough to be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

    “This is the fourth comet on which we have performed science observations and the farthest point from Earth from which we’ve tried to transmit data on a comet,” said Tim Larson, project manager for Deep Impact at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “The distance limits our bandwidth, so it’s a little like communicating through a modem after being used to DSL. But we’re going to coordinate our science collection and playback so we maximize our return on this potentially spectacular comet.”

    Comet ISON was only just discovered in September of 2012 by Russian astronomers. NASA has determined that the comet is making its first-ever journey into the the inner solar system. Researchers believe that means the object’s surface will have plenty of volatile material that will be burned off by the sun. Long-period comets such as ISON come from the Oort cloud, a cloud of icy objects that surround the solar system at an incredible distance – as far away as one-third the distance to the Sun’s nearest neighbor star.

    NASA has stated that there is no chance comet ISON will be a risk to the Earth. The object’s closest approach to the planet will be on December 26, 2013, and the comet’s head and tail should be visible during its closest approach to the sun.

    In addition to the visible light images seen below, data from Deep Impact is expected to provide researchers with infrared data and light curves for the comet. Though the object is currently over 763 million km (474 million miles) from the Sun, its tail is already estimated to be over 64,400 km (40,000 miles) long.

    Embedded video from

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology

  • NASA Spots Comet Breaking Up in the Inner-Solar System

    Astronomers following the progress of the Hergenrother comet through the inner-solar system are now reporting that the comet is breaking up. Over the past few weeks the comet has been generating “outbursts” of dusty material, and now the object’s nucleus has split apart.

    “Comet Hergenrother is splitting apart,” said Rachel Stevenson, a post-doctoral fellow at NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Using the National Optical Astronomy Observatory’s (NOAO) Gemini North Telescope on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, we have resolved that the nucleus of the comet has separated into at least four distinct pieces resulting in a large increase in dust material in its coma.”

    The fragmentation of the comet’s nucleus was first detected on October 26 by a team of astronomers at the Remanzacco Observatory in Haleakala, Hawaii using the Faulkes Telescope North. It was also imaged by the WIYN telescope group at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

    The breakup means more material to reflect sunlight, making the comet’s coma significantly brighter. The object can be seen through a large telescope, and is currently between the constellations Andromeda and Lacerta.

    “The comet fragments are considerably fainter than the nucleus,” said James Bauer, the deputy principal investigator for NASA’s NEOWISE mission. “This is suggestive of chunks of material being ejected from the surface.”

    NASA emphasized in its statement that neither the comet, nor its fragments pose a threat to the Earth.

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/NOAO/Gemini)

  • Exclusive: Microsoft Discusses Comet Lawsuit

    This morning we reported that Microsoft had filed suit against British retailer Comet for illegally reproducing Windows software. Customers who purchase Windows-based computers at Comet are offered the opportunity to purchase recovery discs as well. The recovery discs are produced in-house by Comet, however, and not by either Microsoft or the computer manufacturers. Microsoft apparently found this practice unacceptable, and has filed suit.

    While preparing the story this morning, I attempted to contact representatives of both Microsoft and Comet. I was unable to get in touch with anyone from Comet, however a representative from Microsoft replied via email earlier this afternoon. They sent me the following statement, attributed to David Finn, Associate General Council, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft:

    Today, Microsoft filed a legal action against UK retailer Comet in the High Court in London. This action focuses on Comet’s unauthorized production of recovery discs, which are one type of recovery solution. Recovery solutions allow customers to repair an operating system, or to reinstall it in the rare event of a system failure.

    In 2008 and 2009, Comet approached tens of thousands of customers who had bought PCs with the necessary recovery software already on the hard drive, and offered to sell them unnecessary recovery discs for £14.99. Not only was the recovery software already provided on the hard drive by the computer manufacturer but, if the customer so desired, a recovery disc could also have been obtained by the customer from the PC manufacturer for free or a minimal amount.

    Illegally replicating software and then selling it is counterfeiting. We’ve often encouraged our customers to buy from a trusted retailer. In this case, it is disappointing that a well-known retailer created so many unwitting victims of counterfeiting.

    To sum up, then, Comet has been copying Microsoft’s software without permission, and using it to sell consumers recovery discs they either don’t need, or could obtain for less money directly from their computer’s manufacturer. All in all, it looks like Microsoft has a pretty good point on this one.

  • Microsoft Sues British Retailer Comet Over Recovery Discs

    UPDATE: Microsoft attorney David Finn has responded to my request for comment. Click here for the full statement.

    Microsoft announced this morning that they have filed suit against Comet, a British retailer that specializes in electronics and appliances. The suit accuses Comet of “creating and selling more than 94,000 sets of counterfeit Windows Vista and Windows XP recovery CDs.” The recovery discs were sold to customers who bought Windows PCs. In years past, Microsoft supplied such discs itself, but has stopped doing so.

    In their statement, Microsoft insists that “Comet’s actions were unfair to customers,” and emphasized their concern to “ensure people get what they pay for,” and to shield customers from pirated versions of their software.

    Meanwhile, Comet have issued a statement of their own. In it they insist that they are the ones who acting in the consumers’ best interests, based on their belief that “customers had been adversely affected by the decision to stop supplying recovery discs with each new Microsoft Operating System based computer.” Comet also asserted that their actions do not constitute infringement, and stated their intention to defend against the suit “vigorously.”

    A request for comment from Microsoft has not yet been answered. This situation presents an interesting problem, in that both companies claim to be acting in the best interest of consumers. Moreover, Comet does not appear to be selling the discs to consumers independently. The only way to get them is to purchase a Windows-based PC from Comet. Which means that in effect, Comet’s customers are only receiving a product that they have already paid for. This is definitely a story worth watching. Check back for updates as it unfolds.

    What do you think? Should Comet be allowed to make Windows recovery discs for customers who have bought Windows computers? Let us know in the comments.

    [Sources: Microsoft Press Release; Comet Statement]