Starship Asterisk*

Comet Lovejoy before a Globular Star Cluster

Explanation: Comet Lovejoy has become visible to the unaided eye. To see the comet, just go outside an hour or so after sunset and look for a fuzzy patch to the right of Orion's belt. Binoculars and a star chart may help. Pictured here, Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) was captured three days ago passing nearly in front of M79, the globular star cluster visible as the bright spot slightly above and to the left of the comet's green-hued coma. The nucleus of Comet Lovejoy is a giant dirty iceberg that is shedding gas into a long and intricate ion tail, extending across the image, as it nears the Sun. The comet is expected to become even easier to spot for northern observers during January, as it is rises earlier and, hopefully, continues to brighten.

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Cowabunga! That's some set of binoculars in the binocular link. Although you'd most likely have moo-ve a lot to see a lot of what's up in the sky.

I like these better:

http://www.lbto.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Binocular_Telescope

The coma of the comet is again green, as expected, but the color difference between the coma and the tail is comparatively small. The color difference between the coma and the tail is much greater here. (That is comet ISON, by the way, and the details of the picture are here.)

But I agree that it's hard to know if the "relative colors" are due to physical and chemical aspects of the comet itself, or if it is due to photographic techniques, filter sensitivity, or processing.

Ann

Totally inaccurate...it is not "to the right" of Orion's belt, like it is "just nearby"..it is NOT,...I just saw it around 1am...Southwestern part of our sky. Very much Lower than Orion's Belt,...farther down from even Rigel...had to update Comet information in Stellarium, just to locate it...With my 10x binocs, I saw a "hazy patch", no tail discernible to me...but I knew what it was...and even then so low to the horizon, it was between the branches of a tree.... Best day to find it will be the 2nd...right under Rigel a bit....if Orion were oriented "straight up and down"....I suggest an Astronomy program to show and track it...then you know.

Well, at least I don't have to Re-incarnate in 8000 years to see it!!!!

Really need photography for a great view...that is why I like APOD!!!

:---[===] *

bystander wrote:I like these better:

http://www.lbto.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Binocular_Telescope

Indeed. But that pair of binoculars lacks portability.

As a lazy armchair amateur astronomer my fantasy personal telescopic setup would be two 24" telescopes mounted together on a motorized recliner. The binocu-lounger.

Bruce

Breathtaking.

Happy New Year to all APOD followers.

How close would a hypothetical Earth-like planet need to be to a globular cluster before you could see it in the night sky with the unaided eye?

Just Jackson wrote:How close would a hypothetical Earth-like planet need to be to a globular cluster before you could see it in the night sky with the unaided eye?

You can see some of them right here from Earth naked eye. So... not very close at all! Being closer will just make it easier to see individual stars. As it is, you can't see individual stars in any of them without aid.

Just Jackson wrote:How close would a hypothetical Earth-like planet need to be to a globular cluster before you could see it in the night sky with the unaided eye?

I'm not sure I understand your question correctly, but Omega Centauri, the brightest Milky Way globular, is indeed visible to the unaided eye to people with normal eyesight, particularly under dark skies. Omega Centauri is about 15,800 light-years away.

Ann

clear night here in the northwest, so they claim. I am going to find out if there is really a comet " out there ". Clear nights are a problem here, along with light pollution, along with iffy weather predictions.

Started off to be clear last night (-5F) but clouds came in...

What is causing the ion trail to appear to be drifting?

ironwrkr@kc.rr.com wrote:What is causing the ion trail to appear to be drifting?

The solar wind.