****BIRTH PANGS***** HEAVENLY SIGNS NEW COMET DISCOVERED A rare cometary visitor is making its way through the inner solar system, and you can see it with a small telescope, decent binoculars or even the naked eye under dark conditions. Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy has brightened significantly since it was discovered in August. The coma, which is the atmosphere surrounding the icy nucleus, has grown and its tail has extended to about 229,000 miles (369,000 kilometers) as it nears its closest encounter with the sun at the end of January. Amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy found the comet from his Thornlands, Queensland, Australia home, his fifth cometary discovery. The comet was about 4,000 times dimmer when he discovered it just before dawn on August 17, 2014. Lovejoy is well known among comet hunters for his techniques in modifying digital cameras to record the infrared light needed to detect deep space objects.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:34:16 +0000
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