BRIGHTENING, GORGEOUS COMET: Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) continues to brighten, and it can now be seen with the naked eye even from light-polluted urban areas. Science journalist and longtime comet watcher Mariano Ribas reports from the Planetario de Buenos Aires: Last night, I could see Comet Lovejoy with my unaided eyes in the sky of Buenos Aires. Barely, and only using averted vision. But I saw it! Comparing the comet to nearby background stars, I estimate the comets visual magnitude to be about 4.2, he continues. The comet was very bright with my 10x50 binoculars. Also, I could see a hint of its tail. The comets atmosphere (or coma) looks clearly gray/green, and it appears more condensed than one week ago. What is merely pleasing to the unaided eye transforms into something gorgeous in the focus of a mid-sized telescope. Gerald Rhemann took this picture using a remotely-controlled 12-inch scope in Farm Tivoli, Namibia: spaceweather/
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 00:30:09 +0000
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