Comet Alert!
Whoa! I have just found out about another comet headed this way. That’s right. I may be fixing to, Goddess Allowing, espy a second comet. The new comet headed this way is C/2007 N3, also known as Lulin. If I espy Lulin, Lulin shall be the second comet I have knowingly espied, ever. The other one was the famous Comet Holmes.
Turns out, Comet Lulin is zooming from Scorpius into Libra this very month and may brighten up to naked eye visibility, anon. Great! Not only shall there be another nice comet visible, but it shall render Libra, a boring constellation, temporarily interesting.
Libra is a boring constellation? Yes. From the vantage of the Cow Barn, Libra is plenty boring. Although, Alpha Libra, is also known as Zuben El Genubi. That sounds like Obie Wan Kenobi. So does Beta Libra, Zuben Esch Amali. Plus, Zuben El Genubi is practically on top of the ecliptic. So Libra is, for the average amateur astronomer, slightly interesting, maybe.
There is a Magnitude 10 globular in Libra that might be visible in the sky over the Cow Barn if I had a big yet cheap 90x400 binocular mounted on a construction crane. Also, there is an easy double star, Σ1962, which is characterized by Burnham as, neat. Burnham is usually reliable. I better checkout Σ1962 after I get tired of Comet Lulin.
Now, the question remains, Are the eastern parts of Libra fixing to be far enough ahead of Ogma Sunface to allow an average amateur astronomer in these parts to espy Comet Lulin when the clouds next part in a couple of days, maybe? I suspect that around 5 AM most of Libra shall just be visible Wednesday, maybe. But all that must be determined experimentally.
According to cometchasing.skyhound.com, Comet Lulin should pass very close to 47 Libra between 1/5 and 1/7 of the Julian. It should pass just south of 47 Libra so I need to look west of Graffias between 47 Libra, a 6th magnitude tight double and 45 Lambda, 5th magnitude. Comet Lulin should be the brightest object in close proximity to 47 Libra. All three of these naked objects should be easy in the finder and the 10x42 bins.
Turns out, Comet Lulin is zooming from Scorpius into Libra this very month and may brighten up to naked eye visibility, anon. Great! Not only shall there be another nice comet visible, but it shall render Libra, a boring constellation, temporarily interesting.
Libra is a boring constellation? Yes. From the vantage of the Cow Barn, Libra is plenty boring. Although, Alpha Libra, is also known as Zuben El Genubi. That sounds like Obie Wan Kenobi. So does Beta Libra, Zuben Esch Amali. Plus, Zuben El Genubi is practically on top of the ecliptic. So Libra is, for the average amateur astronomer, slightly interesting, maybe.
There is a Magnitude 10 globular in Libra that might be visible in the sky over the Cow Barn if I had a big yet cheap 90x400 binocular mounted on a construction crane. Also, there is an easy double star, Σ1962, which is characterized by Burnham as, neat. Burnham is usually reliable. I better checkout Σ1962 after I get tired of Comet Lulin.
Now, the question remains, Are the eastern parts of Libra fixing to be far enough ahead of Ogma Sunface to allow an average amateur astronomer in these parts to espy Comet Lulin when the clouds next part in a couple of days, maybe? I suspect that around 5 AM most of Libra shall just be visible Wednesday, maybe. But all that must be determined experimentally.
According to cometchasing.skyhound.com, Comet Lulin should pass very close to 47 Libra between 1/5 and 1/7 of the Julian. It should pass just south of 47 Libra so I need to look west of Graffias between 47 Libra, a 6th magnitude tight double and 45 Lambda, 5th magnitude. Comet Lulin should be the brightest object in close proximity to 47 Libra. All three of these naked objects should be easy in the finder and the 10x42 bins.
posted by ray pistrum at Monday, January 05, 2009
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