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Originally posted by BorgHoffen
I cant believe, its been there for 2 years, and is not on Microsoft worldwide Telescope.
Watch this speedy comet move across the sky! If you are wondering why the stars seem to rotate, I captured this using a guidescope atop my dob which has an alt-az mount. Boy do I need a field de-rotator!
Comet Lulin closest to Earth. Filmed on 24th Feb 2009 in Ontario, Canada.
Originally posted by texaspike09
reply to post by tarifa37
Great videos. I did find it neat in the first video, that at about 36 seconds into it, something shoots in front of it.....check it out. Very cool none the less.....
Like the planets, comets orbit the sun as well. Comets, however, tend to have VERY eccentric orbits, approaching fairly close to the sun, then traveling well outside the orbit of Pluto. What makes comets such a spectacular view in the sky is their tail. This bright, cone-shaped cloud following the comet provides wonderful photographic opportunities.
Comets are made most from ice and dust particles. When a comet is outside the orbit of Jupiter it tends to simply be another object floating in space. Once it comes inside the orbit of Jupiter, however, the solar wind is strong enough to start blowing the dust from the comet. As the comet gets closer, the temperature rises, and the ice begins sublimating (going directly from a solid to a gas without passing through the liquid stage.) Many people believe that the tail of a comet is directly behind the comet like dust being left behind as the comet races through space. It is really the solar wind causes that causes a comet's tail by blowing all of the debris off of the comet. Because of this, a comet's tail always faces away from the sun and not necessarily behind the comet's path.
Originally posted by tarifa37
I found this interesting as I was wondering what made the comets tail trail behind it as everyone knows there is no air or wind in space to cause this .Or is there?
Like the planets, comets orbit the sun as well. Comets, however, tend to have VERY eccentric orbits, approaching fairly close to the sun, then traveling well outside the orbit of Pluto. What makes comets such a spectacular view in the sky is their tail. This bright, cone-shaped cloud following the comet provides wonderful photographic opportunities.
Comets are made most from ice and dust particles. When a comet is outside the orbit of Jupiter it tends to simply be another object floating in space. Once it comes inside the orbit of Jupiter, however, the solar wind is strong enough to start blowing the dust from the comet. As the comet gets closer, the temperature rises, and the ice begins sublimating (going directly from a solid to a gas without passing through the liquid stage.) Many people believe that the tail of a comet is directly behind the comet like dust being left behind as the comet races through space. It is really the solar wind causes that causes a comet's tail by blowing all of the debris off of the comet. Because of this, a comet's tail always faces away from the sun and not necessarily behind the comet's path.
Originally posted by smokingman2006
This should answer the questions of all those member who have been posting about the green light in our skies lately
[edit on 24-2-2009 by smokingman2006]
Originally posted by mrfire9
Say what telescope do they use to see out that far into space other then at an observatory? Would it be one of those $1000 telescopes?