Christmas Comet
Is there a cylindrical package under your Christmas tree? Open it now. A
small telescope is all you need to see Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2). Discovered
just last August by Terry Lovejoy in Australia, the green comet is brightening
faster than expected as it moves into northern skies just in time for
Christmas. Trace the comet's tail down the page for more information:
Gerald Rhemann took this picture on Dec. 21st using a remotely-operated
telescope in Namibia. The comet's sinuous blue ion tail contrasts beautifully
with its puffy green atmosphere. The colors come from ionized carbon monoxide
(CO+) and diatomic carbon (C2), which glow blue and green, respectively, in the
near-vacuum of interplanetary space.
"Last night (Dec. 23rd), the comet was easy to see in binoculars as a
5th magnitude fuzzy star,"
reports
Alan Dyer of New Mexico. "I could just see the comet naked eye knowing
exactly where to look south of Orion in the constellation Columba the
dove."
Where is that?
These
finder charts from
Sky and Telescope can help you find the comet.
Better yet, if that cylindrical object is a GOTO telescope, just plug in
the
comet's coordinates and let the telecope find it for you.
From SpaceWeather.com
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