Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3) Incoming (Visible Feb 09)

Heads up for all sky watchers.. Lulin currently passing through the constellation Libra is visible as an 8th magnitude star through a medium sized backyard telescope.. On it's closest approach it will be within 0.41AU so we should be in for a treat..

Surprises are possible. The near-parabolic orbit of Comet Lulin suggests this could be the comet's first visit to the inner solar system. How it will react to increasing sunlight is anyone's guess. Stay tuned for updates in the weeks ahead.

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check here for current position

happy sky watching

daz__

Thanks for the heads up. I will be out freezing my butt off with my scope, and hope to get some good pics :-)

Good post, the other day I was just thinking to myself that I'd like to know if there are any good comets to spot right now (yes, I spend way to much time thinking about these kinds of things). The weather looks to be clear tonight, so I'll have to motivate myself to make the early morning rise. Thanks for the info!

My daughter has a telescope. It's okay - not professional or anything. But we were able to see the clouds on Jupiter one evening last week. Thanks for posting this. We'll keep an eye out for it and report if we see it.

reply to post by daz__



Here is an animated orbit of the comet:

ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...

here are recent pictures of the comet:

spaceweather.com...

comment from a webpage:

Astronomers advised star gazers to make use of the upcoming long Chinese Lunar New Year holidays to appreciate the comet. The object can be seen low in the sky in the east-southeast direction before dawn.

WOW. Looks like February 24 it gets pretty close to us. .041 AU if I rmemeber correctly. I will start looking for the little fella.

reply to post by stikkinikki


You added a 0. The correct distance (stated in the OP) is .41AU, 38 million miles. Not all that close.

reply to post by daz__


While you're looking for Lulin keep an eye out for 1999 AQ10 on February 18th. It'll be passing at .0112 AU then. Along with the delta Leonids.

Kinda makes me nervous to have all this stuff passing so close together in time and space: it's gonna get pretty crowded for a bit. Anyone able to work out the potential interactions?

ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...

space is huge. to think of two comets hitting each other is mind bogling

Originally posted by apacheman
reply to post by daz__

 

While you're looking for Lulin keep an eye out for 1999 AQ10 on February 18th. It'll be passing at .0112 AU then. Along with the delta Leonids.

Kinda makes me nervous to have all this stuff passing so close together in time and space: it's gonna get pretty crowded for a bit. Anyone able to work out the potential interactions?

ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...

thank you for the info.. sorry can't help with your question.. all i can do is watch.. been looking forward to seeing a comet with my new comet hunting glasses..

peace

daz__

more info on the comet published on the "new scientist"s website - it will pass 70 million km away from Earth , with visual unaided sight by 24th of February. It will be a nice show

Here's my first image of Comet Lulin, taken at about 5:30am this morning. It's already at about magnitude 7.


[edit on 7-2-2009 by ngchunter]

reply to post by ngchunter


One more, here's a video time lapse of comet lulin's movement made using the individual exposures of the above picture:
vimeo.com...

[edit on 9-2-2009 by ngchunter]

ngchunter are you the young fellah in China who first discovered it ?
Bravo... good on you.

Hate to sound superstitious, but comets forbode bad luck in Chinese mythology.

When the last comet came by in 2007 my extremely fit and healthy mother died suddenly and unexpectedly. Now i fasten my seat belt when a comet comes by.

Thanks gunson, and no I'm not the young fellar who found it, though I may be young. I just love shooting comets, they're always unique and dynamic. I'm so sorry to hear about your mother's passing, I can see how that would have a profound impact on your perception of comets.

[edit on 9-2-2009 by ngchunter]

well done ngc... wikid picture..
anyway have not seen the comet myself yet.. seem to be confounded by cloud most of the time.,,

this just in.. the comet seems to have experiened a disconnection event.. It was predictided that the comet might have a surprise or two and it seems to be living up to all expectations..

we were lucky enough to capture an intriguing phenomena: in our images is clearly visible a nice disconnection event (DE) in the plasma tail of the comet (evidenced by a red circle in this rendition). The DE indicates that the comet has recently passed through a disturbance in the magnetic field carried by the solar wind, that destroyed the original plasma tail, creating a new one.

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