icon Denied by JPL


To: Mitch Battros
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 7:53 AM
From: Charles S. Morris <csm@encke.jpl.nasa.gov> JPL
Subject: Earth Changes TV/Breaking News - Comet Lee, Possible Connection With 
CME's
The Truth About Comet Lee

There have been some wild statements made about Comet Lee [officially 
known as C/1999H1 (Lee)]. These are simply bogus, false statements by 
people who must have some agenda other than the truth. Given below is the 
truth...

o Comet Lee's orbit is not irratic. It is well-known. The comet will not hit the 
Earth or come any place close to it. The closest it will come to the Earth is 
about 77 million miles (the Sun is 93 million miles from Earth) at the end of 
September 1999. An orbital diagram is posted below...see for yourself.

o Comet Lee (or any comet) will not cause coronal mass ejections. And 
Comet Lee's orbit is not affected by them.

o The comet is not expected to become bright. It is not abnormally bright nor 
is it brightening at an unusual rate. In fact, it is not expected to become a 
naked-eye object. It is currently near its peak brightness.

It seems every time we have a modestly bright comet, someone or group or 
tabloid will claim that the comet is a threat to the Earth, has a spaceship 
traveling next to it or some other nonsense. They get on the radio and call 
themselves "scientists." To them, those of us that provide legitimate 
information on comets are obviously part of some grand conspiracy. If you are 
one that believes the nonsense that these people promote, that is certainly your 
right. However, remember their predictions. When they do not come true...and 
none of them came true with Comet Hale-Bopp...perhaps next time you will 
not be so willing to believe the psuedo-scientific predictions they make.

Charles S. Morris - JPL
<csm@encke.jpl.nasa.gov>

Comet Observation Home Page
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html

icon