Coming Soon: Comet Ikeya-Zhang

Bill Kendrick writes: "Space.com reports that a newly discovered comet is approaching the sun and earth. No, this one won't hit us, but it should make for a good show. It'll be closest to the sun on March18th. Here's a diagram of its orbit."

No good show

[T-Punkt]

I doubt' we'll see a good show. From looking at the diagramm it will be (visually) near the sun which means it can't be seen at nights and only (like mercury) in the mornings/evenings shortly before the sun rises/sets and only close above the horizon.

Re:No good show

[T-Punkt]

> ...it will be (visually) near the sun
when it's closest to the earth

Re:No good show

[smoore]

I've been looking for this comet for about weeks now (starting 1 week after discovery) and have yet to see it in my 6" scope. Its just barley at the limit for visual observations (without a telescope or binoculars) at a dark site (mag 6.8) and really low in the sky. You have to wait for the sun to go down and then you get about an hour max to find it. My numbers for today say the sun sets and the glow is gone by 19:50 EST and the comet sets at 21:07 EST. Even then if you have any light on your horizen (light a city to your west) the comet will be in the glow and washed out. The moon has been an issue too. Over the last weekend it was in the same area of the sky as the comet and washed it out. They are predicting it will get brighter but it is also getting closer to the sun as it does, so your viewing time shortens.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

[Klox]

This happens to be the subject of today's APOD [nasa.gov].

Re:Astronomy Picture of the Day

[alnapp]

Here's a log of viewing details so far [cam.ac.uk]

Orbitals and Ephemeris at IAU

[LauraLolly]

The wonderful folks at the International Astronomical Union [harvard.edu] (Smithsonian Observatory) have published orbital elements and an ephemeris [harvard.edu] for Ikeya-Zhang.

This is most useful stuff! (Doesn't look like it will be much fun for binoc/naked eye until late March.)

Load this comet into your xephem program!

[LauraLolly]

The orbital elements are available for download [harvard.edu] into many popular astronomy programs, including xephem [clearskyinstitute.com], the open source x-windows program.

Comet Ikeya?

[Amarok.Org]

Does this mean it'll be bringing quality Sweedish-made products at bargain prices?