Comet Elenin
Now that summer is winding down – last weekend of Errant Loon Lodge visitors and several days of clouds and minimal rain – we’ll be more earnest in updating the blog. Hot on the horizon will be Comet Elenin.
First the science stuff. Discovered December 10, 2010, Comet Elenin showed up as a very faint “speck” of fuzzy haze detected on a CCD image acquired by Leonid Elenin of Moscow, by utilizing a remotely controlled telescope.
In astrometrical terms, the comet was around magnitude 19 when it made its appearance through the 18 inch reflecting telescope. During the month of September 2011, the comet should become bright enough to be an easy target for backyard astronomers in North America.
Elenin is a long-period comet, which means it has a rather large orbit. It comes in from a vast distance, swings around the Sun and heads back out to the depths of the solar system – a round trip lasting over 10,000 years. During its current trip it will pass by Earth on October 16, coming as close as 35 million km (22 million miles).
An time lapse gadget of the orbit of Elenin is posted at http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C%2F2010%20X1;orb=1;cad=1;cov=0;log=0#phys_par
“The bottom line is this: Comet C/2010 X1 Elenin is coming, and it will pass by Earth at an extremely safe distance – 100 times the distance from Earth to the Moon. It will not be changing direction between now and then, it will not exert any gravitational effect on Earth, its magnetic field is nonexistent and there are no Star Destroyers cruising in its wake. The biggest effect it will have on Earth is what we are able to learn about it as it passes – after all, it is a visitor from the far reaches of our solar system and we won’t be seeing it again for a very, very long time.”
There’s a Utube video of the comet from New Zealand where the comet is visible now.
Other stuff. The internet is full of catastrophic predictions related to Elenin arrival. One collector of “stuff” on the comet is this blog http://en.wordpress.com/tag/comet-elenin/
However, don’t spend too much time on this. There are other things to do.
I'm just hoping to get a good view between the clouds and the trees.
Now comes this report - maybe we'll see it, maybe not
ReplyDeleteComet Elenin Self-Destructs
Whenever astronomers discover a comet headed inbound toward a close encounter the Sun, there's always buzz among observers about how bright it might get. That was certainly the case last December, when Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1) made its debut. Many hoped it would become easily visible to the unaided eye as it rounded perihelion nine months later
source http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/128708798.html