comet

Comet Catalina Arrives in the Dawn Sky

November 20, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) imaged on August 9, 2015. ( Credit: José J. Chambó)

A Christmas comet is on the way to our skies. Comet Catalina (C/2013 US 10), which has been slowly brightening in the southern-hemisphere skies all year, has crossed the celestial equator moving north. It will finally become visible to northern-hemisphere observers in the pre-dawn sky from this week through late January, and will remain visible to southern-hemisphere observers until late December. Grab your binoculars and get ready to see this end-of-year visitor from the most distant reaches of the solar system [Read more…] about Comet Catalina Arrives in the Dawn Sky

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Comet 67/P Springs a Leak at Perihelion

August 14, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

A jet erupts from below the surface of Comet 67/P on July 29, 2015, two weeks before the comet reaches perihelion (credit: ESA).

Comet 67/P (Churyumov-Gerasimenko) reached its closest point to the Sun on August 14, 2015. It also became the first comet to enter the inner solar system and reach perihelion with a man-made companion, namely the magnificent Rosetta spacecraft operated by the European Space Agency. Rosetta has studied the comet for the past year, dropped the little Philae probe in late 2014 to land on the comet, and now enjoys a close-up view of the comet’s fulminating nucleus as it warms and ejects plumes of gas into space. Two weeks before perihelion, Rosetta captured a spectacular image of a brilliant jet erupting from “neck” of the bi-lobed comet (see above). The jet was the brightest yet seen by Rosetta, and the fireworks lasted nearly 20 minutes [Read more…] about Comet 67/P Springs a Leak at Perihelion

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Short Video of Comet C/2015 F4 (Jacques)

July 30, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

At the end of July 2015, the little comet C/2015 F4 (Jacques) passes the splendid double star Albireo, the star that marks the nose of Cygnus, the Swan. The comet was discovered on March 27, 2014 by C. Jacques at an observatory in Brazil. The comet is a dim 11th magnitude which makes it a very challenging object for visual observers. It may not get much brighter, but the video below gives you a view of this visitor from the outer solar system.

The video was captured by Tom Wildoner, aka the Leisurely Scientist. He assembled the video from 66 individual 30-second exposures using a Canon 6D and Celestron C6-A SCT on an equatorial mount.

Comet C/2015 F4 makes its closest approach to the Sun on August 10, 2015 at a distance of 1.64 astronomical units.

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