I will work miracles in the sky and on the earth: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke. (Joel 2:30) I will work miracles in the sky and give signs on the earth: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke. (Acts 2:19) GREEN COMET IN BRIGHT MOONLIGHT: The visibility of Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) continues to improve. Currently shining at magnitude +5.0 underneath the feet of Orion, it is expected to more than double in brightness by mid-January 2015. This puts it just above the threshold for naked-eye visibility and allows photographers to record the comet using only a camera--no telescope required. John Ashley did just that on Dec. 30th: I took a midnight hike to align Comet Lovejoy with the Huckleberry Mountain fire lookout in Glacier National Park, Montana and took this picture using a Nikon D750 camera, says Ashley. The 66.7% illuminated Moon washed out the comets tail, but the greenish snowball was still quite lovely - as were the occasional auroras in the opposite direction. The comets atmosphere, which looks like a snowball lofted above the fire lookout, has a verdant color because it is rich in diatomic carbon (C2), a gas which glows green in the near-vacuum of interplanetary space. Observers should look for the comet passing through the constellation Lepus the Hare south of Orion. Consult these finder charts from Sky & Telescope. For accurate pointing of telescopes, an ephemeris from the Minor Planet Center is available. spaceweather/
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:05:02 +0000