Author Topic: New Year's Comet: Glowing Green Comet Lovejoy to Light Up Sky (Read 225 times)

Buster's Uncle · « **on:** January 01, 2015, 10:52:22 pm »

New Year's Comet: Glowing Green Comet Lovejoy to Light Up Sky
ABC News
By ALYSSA NEWCOMB Dec 31, 2014, 1:56 PM ET

Comet Lovejoy, pictured Dec. 28, 2014, has become visible to the unaided eye. Dieter Willasch/Astro-Cabinet/NASA

Here's a cosmic New Year's treat: A glowing green comet will shine brighter into the New Year, providing an incredible opportunity for skygazers to enjoy the sight.

The comet Lovejoy is moving across the sky near the Orion constellation, making it even easier to find.

The comet has a green tint that is even more apparent in the hundreds of amateur snaps that have been posted of it.

Lovejoy will make its closest approach to earth in early January, some 44 million miles away, providing the best viewing.

It will travel at three degrees per day at its peak, according to Astronomy Magazine, meaning it will noticeably move.

The comet is named for Australian astronomer Terry Lovejoy, who first spotted it on August 17, 2014 in Birkland, Queensland, Australia.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/years-comet-glowing-green-comet-lovejoy-light-sky/story?id=27929671