This sky map shows where Comet 67P will be located in the night sky, as seen from New York City at 11:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 12, 2021.
(Image credit: SkySafari app)
Posted on 11/13/2021 3:09:54 PM PST by BenLurkin
Comet 67P, which famously hosted the first-ever cometary lander in 2014, made its closest approach to Earth on Friday (Nov. 12). The comet, which is now bright enough to observe with amateur telescopes, will not come back to our planet for the next 200 years.
During its closest pass at 7:50 pm EST (0050 GMT), Comet 67P was at a distance of 39 million miles (62.8 million kilometres) from our planet, within the orbit of Mars, according to Astronomy Now.
Nine days earlier, the comet passed perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its elliptical orbit around our star. At this point, the comet was about 112 million miles (181 million km) from the sun.
According to EarthSky, the comet's path, which sees it complete one orbit around the sun every six and a half years, will now start diverging from that of our planet, and the celestial snowball won't make another close pass until the year 2214. So, now is the best time for skywatchers to give it a shot and point their telescopes in the comet's direction. It can be found close to Pollux, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini, EarthSky said.
Comet 67P was thrust into the international media spotlight in 2014, when a European mission called Rosetta began orbiting the icy body after a 10-year journey through the solar system. Rosetta closely orbited the comet for more than two and a half years, having made detailed measurements and observations of the comet's surface and its immediate surroundings.
This sky map shows where Comet 67P will be located in the night sky, as seen from New York City at 11:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 12, 2021.
(Image credit: SkySafari app)
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
In the new video is Bert in the tub with Ernie and his rubber ducky?
Times like this make me miss my Dob. It won’t fit on the boat.
I’ll catch it next time. Heck, I might even ride on it.
Our weather is messed up. No clear skies here, maybe later in the week I’ll be able to get my 72mm f/6 outside. I don’t know if that’ll be enough aperture….
We’ve got a convoy.
Dang I was going to post that.😜
Time to upgrade to a 10in Dob! Light buckets are quite fun, specially in a dark sky site.
In our club, we have a 12 11/2” and 18” DOB, and a 10” refractor in the dome.
I have a Stellarvue 115mm APO on a Losmandy GM8, maybe I’ll get to the observatory when the weather clears up.
You can’t beat a light bucket, some years ago we took our 18” out to a dark site and it was great, the sky wasn’t the greatest that night, but I did manage to see 4 out of 5 galaxies in Stephan’s Quintet.
I haven’t been using my refractor (115mm) it’s a a little too much to set up at the moment. I had some medical issues to deal with this year, and not quite ready to do some heavy lifting yet. I’m in Northern Illinois, I hope your skies are better where you are 🙂🔭
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.