A Comet For Your Perusing

It's named Comet Lulin.
Normally, comets are named after their discoverers (witness Levy-Shoemaker 9 or Hale-Bopp). In the case of Comet Lulin, it is named not after its discoverer but the observatory that took the images; Lulin Observatory in Taiwan (it was actually discovered in 2007 in a series of images by student Quanzhi Ye, a student at Sun Yat-sen University, who was participating in an asteroid survey). This visitor, which literally hails from the depths of space, appears to be making its first visit into the inner Solar System. These comets are of prime interest to astronomers, as they contain material that is essentially pristine and has been preserved for perhaps billions of years. In essence, they provide us a glimpse into the early days of our Solar System.
In the case of Comet Lulin, we have one here that is on such a trajectory that it will pay a brief visit to the inner Solar System (it already had its close encounter with the Sun on the 14th of January) and exit back into deep space, and it's on a no return trajectory. In short, this one probably won't be coming back, at least for tens of millions of years.
As it zips through the Solar System, though, it appears to be heading straight towards us. Considering the tremendous distances in interplanetary space, looks can be deceiving. At its closest, it will pass around 38 million miles (61.2 million kilometers) on the 24th of February, a little more than the distance to the planet Venus.
All of this data is interesting, but for the average person, the bigger question remains - will we be able to see it? Yes, though don't expect a spectacle here. More than likely, even under dark skies, Comet Lulin will be a daunting target, though it will be visible through binoculars and telescopes as a small, fuzzy star. Much talk has been made of the "double tail" that this comet will be producing. This is an illusion, caused by the comet's motion towards us, producing a "spike tail" that appears to be ahead of the comet. What you actually have are two tails, one composed of dust and the other ionized gas. The dust tail is composed of solids, dust, that are being lifted from the surface of the comet. This dust trail has particles that travel at a slower speed compared to the heated gas that composes the ion tail; this tail points almost exactly opposite the Sun. When viewed from above, the tails point in a "V", especially in comets traveling at high speeds. From our perspective here on Earth, it appears as though they are pointed in opposite directions.


Where will Comet Lulin be in the next few weeks? On the 1st of February, it can be found in the morning sky near Libra and the star Zebenelgenubi, but it will begin to move west in our skies until it approaches Saturn and Leo, and moves into the evening sky. On the evening of its closest approach, the 24th of February, it will be just south of Saturn, and it may be possible to view both in the same telescopic view. But that encounter is just one many on its journey. To make finding Comet Lulin easier, below is a list of all the encounters Comet Lulin will have with easy to find objects. The chart also has them labeled.
1 February – East of Zebenelgenubi
16 February – North of Spica
24 February – South of Saturn
1 March – West of Regulus
6 March – South of M44 (Praesepe/Beehive Cluster)
1 April – Between the twins in Gemini


Its speed will be amazing as it moves along from night to night. After that, it will fade away over the weeks until it disappears into the depths, heading into the infinite cold of the outer Solar System and beyond.

Things To Do With Your New Telescope/Binoculars - A Winter Top 10

It's not quite a month after the holiday season, and the question of the moment is; did you get a telescope or binoculars? Raise your hand if you did... not that I can see them (and don't you look silly with your hand in the air for no reason. Just say you're stretching). You've already probably taken a few minutes and played around with them and set them up, maybe even took a look at that full Moon we had in early January and discovered that the full Moon is as blinding an object as you can see. So, what now?

Perhaps it's time to take a little stroll through the winter sky and my Top 10 Objects for the Small Telescope and Binoculars in the January Sky.

1. The Pleaides -

Everyone's favorite open cluster, this gathering of young, blue stars lies just over 400 light years away and technically belongs to the constellation Taurus (it is not a constellation all its own. Pity). With the naked eye, this cluster resembles a slightly more compact Little Dipper and the average person can make out six stars. With binoculars, though, a plethora of stars suddenly appear, and this number grows when viewed telescopically. In total, there are perhaps a thousand stars here (just don't expect to see them all; most are too faint to be viewed with small telescopes).

2. The Orion Nebula -

Everyone's favorite nebula. This vast, distant cloud of gas and dust resides just south of Orion's belt in the "Sword" region. It is over a thousand light years away and spans over forty light years, and is an interstellar nursery. When you look at it, though, you're probably wondering "where are the colors?" Unfortunately, the human eye doesn't reveal them at all, since our night vision is more geared for contrast. Still, on clear nights, you might catch some hints of coloration.

3. Sirius -

You'll discover that looking at stars through any instrument simply makes them brighter and doesn't really magnify them at all. But even if you can't make out its spherical shape, the star Sirius is still a dazzling sight. This blue giant is the closest bright star to Earth, at eight light years. It is also the brightest star in our skies, aside from our Sun.

4. The Hyades -

The part of the constellation Taurus that we refer to as the head is actually another open cluster, the Hyades. This vast group contains dozens of stars and is half the distance of the Pleiades, around 200 light years. The brightest star in Taurus also lies in the head, Aldebaran. However, it is not part of the Hyades and is indeed much closer (around 75 light years). Aldebaran is part of another object of, however...

5. The Winter Hexagon/Circle -

Another object that doesn't require a telescope, this enormous asterism spans six constellations and actually contains seven stars (and they call it a hexagon? Wouldn't that make it a heptagon?) around the periphery and a single red star close to the center. The stars are, running clockwise from west - Aldebaran, Capella, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Sirius, Rigel with Betelgeuse on the inside near the center.

6. The Leaping Minnow Asterism in Auriga -

Within the more southern reaches of Auriga, there is a group of stars that look like a small cluster unto themselves. This is the Leaping Minnow, and really isn't a cluster at all but a chance alignment of distant stars. While there are a number of nearby clusters (M36, 37 and 38), they are pretty faint for small instruments (though not impossible), the Leaping Minnow itself is a fascinating object and in fact can be used as a signpost for the other, more distant objects.

7. The Kids in Auriga –

Not really a deep sky object as well, just a small group of three stars (Epsilon, Eta and Zeta Aurigae) that form a triangle in the western portion of Auriga. Known since antiquity as the “The Kids” (as in goats), they are assumed to be two “kids” in the arm of their shepherd. The third star (Epsilon) forms a triangle and isn’t really part of the group per se, but it does help complete the image.

8. The Praesepe or Beehive Cluster -

Near the center of the faint constellation Cancer lies an open cluster that is just on the cusp of visibility under suburban lights, the Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster. At over 577 light years distance, it contains over a thousand stars, most of which are beyond the capabilities of small telescopes. The brighter stars, however, really do look like its more modern name, a swarm of bees near a hive.

9. The Alpha Persei Moving Cluster / Perseus III OB Association –

Open clusters are usually young stars that were born around the same time and usually from the same nebula. Eventually, they spread out and disperse. Sometimes, the stars that are produced within these nebulae are super bright, super large white blue stars. Astronomers label these OB stars and they are always short lived. This cluster is in fact one such association, and is a great binocular object. The various blue stars look like blazing diamonds laid out over a black velvet background. What’s amazing still is that they are over 600 light years distant.

10. M31, The Great Andromeda Galaxy –

M31 is normally considered an autumn object. However, it perists in our skies throughout most of winter, only disappearing over the northwestern horizon in the spring. This is the largest nearby spiral galaxy to our own, at a mere 2.2 million light years distance. It is also the most distant object the human eye can see; under very dark skies, it can be made out as an elongated cloudy light. As with the Orion Nebula, the human eye cannot fully capture the appearance of the galaxy, and in fact can only really see just the core. However, it is still a haunting sight and a great target for small telescopes.

A Big Move

For those of you just coming here, I suppose I need to explain just what has happened. Previously, this column was at Jacksonville.com; however, there have been changes there of late, and due to the manner in which I write, the changes were a wee bit detrimental. So, I've decided to abridge my column there with this blog. Here, I have a bit more flexibility and creativity (not that the crew at Jacksonville.com prevented that; indeed, within the framework they used, they did a stupendous job). Like my previous blogs, this one will be posted from various locations and times and many will be the times I will be referring back to my other blogs, primarily "The Further Adventures of the Vagabond Astronomer".
So, here we are. Please stand by.