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Dec 31, 2014
Comet Lovejoy before a Globular Star Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet)
Courtesy of http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Comet Lovejoy before a Globular Star Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet)
Courtesy of http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
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.
