Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
Comet PanSTARRS to make an appearance in March 2013
Posted on January 26, 2013 by The Extinction Protocol
January 26, 2013 – SPACE - INCOMING
COMET: In little more than a month, Comet PanSTARRS will cross the
orbit of Mercury and probably brighten to naked-eye visibility as it
absorbs the heat of the nearby sun. Sky watchers around the world will
be looking for it in the sunset skies of early March, when it passes
closest to the sun and to Earth. Until then a telescope is required;
here is the view last night through a 0.3-meter-diameter reflector in
Argentina: A team of astronomers led by Martin Masek took the picture
using the remotely-controlled F(/Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric
Monitor—“FRAM” for short. “The stars are trailed in this 9x120s
exposure, which tracked the comet,” explains Masel. Currently, the comet
ranks about 8th magnitude, dimmer than the human eye can see, but it
could brighten 100-fold on March 10th when it makes its closest approach
to the sun (0.3 AU). The latest curves suggest that PanSTARRS will
emerge glowing about as brightly as a 3rd magnitude star, similar to the
stars in the Big Dipper. There might, however, be surprises in store.
Comet PanSTARRS has never been to inner solar system before. It is
falling in from the Oort cloud, a great swarm of comets beyond Neptune
and Pluto unaltered by the warmth of the sun. When Comet PanSTARRS dips
it toe inside the orbit of Mercury for the first time, almost anything
could happen ranging from an anticlimatic “bake-out” to a spectacular
disruption. –Space Weather
Thanks to: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com
Posted on January 26, 2013 by The Extinction Protocol
COMET: In little more than a month, Comet PanSTARRS will cross the
orbit of Mercury and probably brighten to naked-eye visibility as it
absorbs the heat of the nearby sun. Sky watchers around the world will
be looking for it in the sunset skies of early March, when it passes
closest to the sun and to Earth. Until then a telescope is required;
here is the view last night through a 0.3-meter-diameter reflector in
Argentina: A team of astronomers led by Martin Masek took the picture
using the remotely-controlled F(/Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric
Monitor—“FRAM” for short. “The stars are trailed in this 9x120s
exposure, which tracked the comet,” explains Masel. Currently, the comet
ranks about 8th magnitude, dimmer than the human eye can see, but it
could brighten 100-fold on March 10th when it makes its closest approach
to the sun (0.3 AU). The latest curves suggest that PanSTARRS will
emerge glowing about as brightly as a 3rd magnitude star, similar to the
stars in the Big Dipper. There might, however, be surprises in store.
Comet PanSTARRS has never been to inner solar system before. It is
falling in from the Oort cloud, a great swarm of comets beyond Neptune
and Pluto unaltered by the warmth of the sun. When Comet PanSTARRS dips
it toe inside the orbit of Mercury for the first time, almost anything
could happen ranging from an anticlimatic “bake-out” to a spectacular
disruption. –Space Weather
Thanks to: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com
