Quoted from: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/04feb_greencomet.htm Green Comet Approaches Earth | 02.04.2009 | ||
+ Play Audio | + Download Audio | + Email to a friend | + Join mailing list February 4, 2009: In 1996, a 7-year-old boy in China bent over the eyepiece of a small telescope and saw something that would change his life--a comet of flamboyant beauty, bright and puffy with an active tail. At first he thought he himself had discovered it, but no, he learned, two men named "Hale" and "Bopp" had beat him to it. Mastering his disappointment, young Quanzhi Ye resolved to find his own comet one day. And one day, he did. Fast forward to a summer afternoon in July 2007. Ye, now 19 years old and a student of meteorology at China's Sun Yat-sen University, bent over his desk to stare at a black-and-white star field. The photo was taken nights before by Taiwanese astronomer Chi Sheng Lin on "sky patrol" at the Lulin Observatory. Ye's finger moved from point to point--and stopped. One of the stars was not a star, it was a comet, and this time Ye saw it first. Comet Lulin, named after the observatory in Taiwan where the discovery-photo was taken, is now approaching Earth. "It is a green beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now," says Ye. Amateur astronomer Jack Newton sends this photo from his backyard observatory in Arizona:
"My retired eyes still cannot see the brightening comet," says Newton, "but my 14-inch telescope picked it up quite nicely on Feb. 1st." The comet makes its closest approach to Earth (0.41 AU) on Feb. 24, 2009. Current estimates peg the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark country skies would be required to see it. No one can say for sure, however, because this appears to be Lulin's first visit to the inner solar system and its first exposure to intense sunlight. Surprises are possible. In 1910, many people panicked when astronomers revealed Earth would pass through the cyanogen-rich tail of Comet Halley. False alarm: The wispy tail of the comet couldn't penetrate Earth's dense atmosphere; even it if had penetrated, there wasn't enough cyanogen to cause real trouble. Comet Lulin will cause even less trouble than Halley did. At closest approach in late February, Lulin will stop 38 million miles short of Earth, utterly harmless. To see Comet Lulin with your own eyes, set your alarm for 3 am. The comet rises a few hours before the sun and may be found about 1/3rd of the way up the southern sky before dawn. Here are some dates when it is especially easy to find:
Feb. 16th: Comet Lulin passes Spica in the constellation Virgo. Spica is a star of first magnitude and a guidepost even city astronomers cannot miss. A finderscope pointed at Spica will capture Comet Lulin in the field of view, centering the optics within a nudge of both objects. [sky map] Feb. 24th: Closest approach! On this special morning, Lulin will lie just a few degrees from Saturn in the constellation Leo. Saturn is obvious to the unaided eye, and Lulin could be as well. If this doesn't draw you out of bed, nothing will. [sky map] Ye notes that Comet Lulin is remarkable not only for its rare beauty, but also for its rare manner of discovery. "This is a 'comet of collaboration' between Taiwanese and Chinese astronomers," he says. "The discovery could not have been made without a contribution from both sides of the Strait that separates our countries. Chi Sheng Lin and other members of the Lulin Observatory staff enabled me to get the images I wanted, while I analyzed the data and found the comet." Somewhere this month, Ye imagines, another youngster will bend over an eyepiece, see Comet Lulin, and feel the same thrill he did gazing at Comet Hale-Bopp in 1996. And who knows where that might lead...? "I hope that my experience might inspire other young people to pursue the same starry dreams as myself," says Ye. Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA | |||
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Green Comet Approaches Earth
Comet LULIN will be seen by naked eyes this month... Watch this and wait, something BIG will be happened
"Lulin’s closest approach to Earth, 0.41 a.u. (61 million km), occurs on February 24th, when the comet may be at a peak of magnitude 5. By now it's high up by late evening."
Comet Lulin will come this month
FIRST REPORTS OF NAKED-EYE VISIBILITY: Comet Lulin is now visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites. "This morning, Feb 6th, I noticed a faint smudge above Zubenelgenubi," reports Jeff Barton from the Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus in West Texas. "I then trained my 9x63 binoculars on the fuzzy patch. Yep, nailed it! I was thrilled to finally bag Comet Lulin without optical aid."
Another naked-eye sighting report comes from Martin McKenna of Maghera, Northern Ireland: "I went out for a look at Comet Lulin this morning, Feb. 6th, before dawn with my telescope and binoculars. The Moon was very low, so I stood within the shadow of my house and tried to see the comet without optical aid. Using averted vision, I was able to glimpse the comet perhaps a dozen times! It looked like a large grey patch of light very close to Zubenelgenubi. The sight gave me a warm glow on such a frigid frosty night."
Source: http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_lulin_page7.htm
February 7th: Its reported magnitude is now 6.1.
After moving about 1° per day at the start of February, by February 11th Lulin is creeping westward at 2° per day On that date it crosses into Virgo and passes within a quarter degree of Lambda Virginis. But there's bad moonlight in the early-morning sky from about February 7th through the morning of the 15th or 16th.
On the night of February 15-16 (look around midnight, just before moonrise at your location), Comet Lulin will pass 3° north of Spica. By now the comet’s speed has increased to 3° per day.
On the night of February 23rd, in a moonless sky and near its peak brightness, Comet Lulin is passing 2° south-southwest of Saturn.
Lulin’s closest approach to Earth, 0.41 a.u. (61 million km), occurs on February 24th, when the comet may be at a peak of magnitude 5. By now it's high up by late evening.
On the night of February 25th the comet goes through opposition, nearly 180° from the Sun in our sky. Will there be an "opposition effect" brightening of its dusty coma and dust tail?
And it's now speeding along at just over 5° per day! That's about 1 arcsecond every 5 seconds of time, enough to show obvious motion during a short telescopic observing session. Similarly, that's 1 arcminute per 5 minutes of time if you're using binoculars.
After that Lulin moves away from both Earth and the Sun, so it fades quickly. The evening of February 27 will see it at 5th or 6th magnitude within 1° of Regulus. Moonlight starts interfering again around the 28th.
Source: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html