Comet Tuttle Lights up

[Todd M]

Saw this in The Daily Telegraph today, thought I would post it here. Would be good to see, but atleast it passes every 13.5 years, so if you miss it now most people will see it next time.

 

Comet Tuttle lights upJanuary 01, 2008 12:00am

 

YOU'LL need to be far from the bright city lights and bustling traffic to catch a glimpse of this New Year's comet 40 million kilometres above the Earth.

 

But, with a keen eye, a simple telescope or good binoculars and a quiet backyard, the fast-moving, emerald-green comet could add a little spark to the first days and weeks of 2008.

 

Astronomers say that, viewed in the Southern Hemisphere, it can be found in the north-west between the constellations of Aries and Pegasus.

 

Comet 8P/Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 13½ years, will be brightest today and tomorrow in the night sky when it is closest to the Earth's surface at 38.6 million kilometres.

 

"It's not an obvious object," Siding Spring Observatory astronomer-in-charge Professor Fred Watson said.

 

"It's a faint comet. It's moving quite quickly through the sky."

 

It will move further away from the Earth but become easier to see in the southern hemisphere in the coming weeks.

 

Professor Watson said keen star-gazers would need to be prepared if they wanted to catch a glimpse of the green-looking drift of flying snow.

 

Getting away from city lights, taking a sky chart to pinpoint its location and using a good backyard telescope would all help, he said.

Source - http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 21,00.html