Newfound Comet to Dive Through Sun Next Week


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A newly discovered comet is racing toward a mid-December rendezvous with the sun ? a rendezvous that it will likely not survive.

The comet is categorized by astronomers as a "sungrazer" and it is destined to do just that; literally graze the surface of the sun (called the photosphere) and pass through the sun's intensely hot corona, where temperatures have been measured at upwards of 3.6-million degrees Fahrenheit (2-million degrees Celsius).

While the comet will not collide with the sun, most astronomers say the odds are rather long that it will remain intact after its closest pass by the sun. The most exciting aspect of the event is that the comet's expected destruction should be visible on your computer monitor.

And there is a very slight chance that, should the comet somehow manage to survive, it might briefly become visible in broad daylight.

The comet was discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy Nov. 27 using a C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, working with a QHY9 CCD camera.

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And there is a very slight chance that, should we somehow manage to survive, it might briefly become visible in broad daylight.

Fixed it for lulz :D

Of time, source says 7:00 PM EST Dec. 15 (00:00 GMT on Dec. 16). Which means that we in the Old World won't see it anyway. And that blue SOHO image is as interesting as watching paint dry.

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Should be interesting.

Any word on the day and time yet?

To get a good view of Comet Lovejoy, reserve a seat next to your computer and stay tuned to the SOHO website: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/.

Comet Lovejoy (if it hasn't faded completely away) is expected to enter camera range beginning next Monday (Dec. 12), appearing to move rapidly up from the south, then rapidly curve up and around the sun in what may prove to be a fiery demise Dec. 16.

Holy hail -- it will be raining ice cubes !!! :woot:

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