I went out last night about 9pm to see if I could find the "smudgball" that is Comet Lulin. With my little birding bins, I did find it, and was able to point it out to a friend as well. It was a cold night, but it was perfectly clear and made for great viewing.
In areas with a lot of light pollution you may not see it (Come on people, turn those lights off, or point them to the ground where we really want them). But in relatively dark, or very dark areas, you will see this lovely little comet near Leo the Lion in the east/south east. The link above is a good one for showing and explaining where to look over the next few nights. The further it gets from Leo, the harder it will be to see, because of the lack of a reference point.
It is pretty dim (at least from my viewing area), and all I saw was the smudge and no tail. I would have needed something a bit more powerful than my bins, but it was still fun to see.
The night sky is amazing. Grab your bins, bundle up, throw a blanket on the ground, maybe find a friend, and spend some time getting lost in the vastness of space.
3 comments:
I did not see it (it was been cloudy here for days and now we are all waiting for this crazy snow storm). I love star-gazing with friends on blankets on the front lawn especially during meteor showers.
I wish my Bitty could stay up late enough to see it - she's been very excited about comets lately and thinks that every jetstream she sees in the sky is a comet. I think she needs to be just a little older before we try that, though.
We were out looking at it as well! Harvey located it. It was mighty cold, but worth it. A lovely smudge!
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