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A 40 minute exposure of Comet E2 Jacques taken from Payson, Arizona. Credit: Chris Schur. <\/p>\n
As the Chinese proverb says, May you live in interesting times, and while the promise of Comet ISON dazzling observers didnt exactly pan out as hoped for in early2014, we now have a bevy of binocular comets set to grace evening skies for northern hemisphere observers. Comet 2012K1 PanSTARRS has put on a fine show, and comet C\/2014 E2 Jacques has emerged from behind the Sun and its close 0.085 AU passage near Venus and has already proven to be a fine target for astro-imagers. And weve got another icy visitor to the inner solar system beating tracks northward in the form of Comet C\/2013 V5 Oukaimeden, and a grand cometary finale as comet A1 Siding Spring brushes past the planet Mars. That is, IF a spectacular naked eye comet doesnt come by and steal the show, as happens every decade or so <\/p>\n
Comet E2 Jacques crossing Cassiopeia as seen from the island of Malta. Credit: Leonard Mercer. <\/p>\n
Anyhow, heres a rapid fire run down on what you can expect from three of these binocular comets that continue to grace the twilight skies this Fall. <\/p>\n
(Note that mentions of comets passing near a given object denote conjunctions of less than an angular degree of arc unless otherwise stated). <\/p>\n
C\/2014 E2 Jacques: <\/p>\n
Discovered by amateur astronomer Cristovao Jacques on March 13th of this year from the SONEAR Observatory in Brazil, Comet E2 Jacques has been dazzling observers as it passed 35 degrees from the north celestial pole and posed near several deep sky wonders as it transited the constellation of Cassiopeia. <\/p>\n
Comet E2 Jacques on August 28th as seen from the MVAS dark sky site in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Credit: John Chumack. <\/p>\n
Mid-September finds Jacques 55 degrees above the NE horizon at dusk for northern hemisphere viewers in the constellation Cygnus. It then races southward parallel to the galactic equator, keeping in the +7th to +8th magnitude range before dropping down below +10th magnitude in late October. After this current passage through the inner solar system, Comet Jacques will be on a shortened 12,000 year orbit. <\/p>\n
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See the article here:<\/p>\n
Tales (Tails?) Of Three Comets<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Want to stay on top of all the space news? Continue reading