A Christmas Comet is now naked eye visible! Beautifully placed in the Constellation Orion, Rising in the East now in mid-evening like a holiday gift from under the tree. Currently 5th magnitude and still brightening, Comet Lovejoy discovered last August. *See the write-up in this mornings NASA Spaceweather site 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 comets tail down the page for more information: Gerald Rhemann took this picture on Dec. 21st using a remotely-operated telescope in Namibia. The comets 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 comets coordinates and let the telescope find it for you. spaceweathergallery/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=105556
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:04:04 +0000
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