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'''Comet Lulin''' (official designation '''C/2007 N3 (Lulin)''') is a [[non-periodic comet]]. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from [[Lulin Observatory]].<ref name="gwkc"/><ref name="aerith"/><ref name="Skynews1">{{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Alan|title=SkyNews: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing|editor=Dickinson, Terence|publisher=SkyNews Inc|location=Yarker, Ontario|date=2009|edition=January/February 2009|volume=XIV, Issue 5|pages=38|chapter=Venus Kicks Off the Year of Astronomy (pg. 24-27)}}</ref> It peaked in brightness and arrived at [[perigee]] for observers on [[Earth]] on February 24, 2009, at [[apparent magnitude|magnitude]] +5,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/icq/CometMags.html|title=Recent Comet Brightness Estimates|work=ICQ/CBAT/MPC|publisher=cfa.harvard.edu|accessdate=2009-02-24}}</ref><ref name="aerith"/><ref name="Skyandtelescope">{{cite web|url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html|title=Observing Highlights - Catch Comet Lulin at Its Best!|last=McRobert|first=Alan|coauthors=Bryant, Greg|date=February 23, 2009|work=Sky & Telescope|publisher=SkyandTelescope.com|accessdate=2009-02-24}}</ref> and at 0.411 AU from Earth.<ref name="jpldata"/> The comet also appeared to be near [[Conjunction_(astronomy_and_astrology)|conjunction]] with [[Saturn]] on February 23, and is predicted to pass near [[Regulus]] in the [[constellation]] of [[Leo (constellation)|Leo]] on February 26 and 27, 2009.<ref name="aerith"/><ref name="Skynews1"/> It is expected to appear to pass near [[Comet Cardinal]] on May 12, 2009.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Alan|title=SkyNews: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing|editor=Dickinson, Terence|publisher=SkyNews Inc|location=Yarker, Ontario|date=2009|edition=January/February 2009|volume=XIV, Issue 5|pages=38|chapter=The Top 10 Celestial Sights of 2009 (pg. 14)}}</ref> It currently lies 0.412 AU from Earth, appearing at magnitude +5.2 in Leo.<ref name="HA"/><ref name="Skyandtelescope"/> The comet became visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites around February 7.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=02&year=2009|title=Naked-Eye Comet|accessdate=2009-02-07}}</ref> It passed between Earth and the [[double star]] [[Zubenelgenubi]] on February 6, between Earth and [[Spica]] on February 15 and 16, between Earth and [[Gamma Virginis]] on February 19 and is predicted to pass between Earth and the [[star cluster]] [[Messier 44|M44]] around March 4 and 5. According to [[NASA]], Comet Lulin's [[green]] color comes from a combination of gases that make up its local atmosphere, primarily [[cyanogen]] and [[diatomic carbon]], which both appear as a green glow when illuminated by [[sunlight]] in the [[vacuum of space]].
'''Comet Lulin''' (official designation '''C/2007 N3 (Lulin)''') is a [[non-periodic comet]]. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from [[Lulin Observatory]].<ref name="gwkc"/><ref name="aerith"/><ref name="Skynews1">{{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Alan|title=SkyNews: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing|editor=Dickinson, Terence|publisher=SkyNews Inc|location=Yarker, Ontario|date=2009|edition=January/February 2009|volume=XIV, Issue 5|pages=38|chapter=Venus Kicks Off the Year of Astronomy (pg. 24-27)}}</ref> It peaked in brightness and arrived at [[perigee]] for observers on [[Earth]] on February 24, 2009, at [[apparent magnitude|magnitude]] +5,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/icq/CometMags.html|title=Recent Comet Brightness Estimates|work=ICQ/CBAT/MPC|publisher=cfa.harvard.edu|accessdate=2009-02-24}}</ref><ref name="aerith"/><ref name="Skyandtelescope">{{cite web|url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html|title=Observing Highlights - Catch Comet Lulin at Its Best!|last=McRobert|first=Alan|coauthors=Bryant, Greg|date=February 23, 2009|work=Sky & Telescope|publisher=SkyandTelescope.com|accessdate=2009-02-24}}</ref> and at 0.411 AU from Earth.<ref name="jpldata"/> The comet also appeared to be near [[Conjunction_(astronomy_and_astrology)|conjunction]] with [[Saturn]] on February 23, and is predicted to pass near [[Regulus]] in the [[constellation]] of [[Leo (constellation)|Leo]] on February 26 and 27, 2009.<ref name="aerith"/><ref name="Skynews1"/> It is expected to appear to pass near [[Comet Cardinal]] on May 12, 2009.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Alan|title=SkyNews: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing|editor=Dickinson, Terence|publisher=SkyNews Inc|location=Yarker, Ontario|date=2009|edition=January/February 2009|volume=XIV, Issue 5|pages=38|chapter=The Top 10 Celestial Sights of 2009 (pg. 14)}}</ref> It currently lies 0.412 AU from Earth, appearing at magnitude +5.2 in Leo.<ref name="HA"/><ref name="Skyandtelescope"/> The comet became visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites around February 7.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=02&year=2009|title=Naked-Eye Comet|accessdate=2009-02-07}}</ref> It passed between Earth and the [[double star]] [[Zubenelgenubi]] on February 6, between Earth and [[Spica]] on February 15 and 16, between Earth and [[Gamma Virginis]] on February 19 and is predicted to pass between Earth and the [[star cluster]] [[Messier 44|M44]] around March 4 and 5. According to [[NASA]], Comet Lulin's [[green]] color comes from a combination of gases that make up its local atmosphere, primarily [[cyanogen]] and [[diatomic carbon]], which both appear as a green glow when illuminated by [[sunlight]] in the [[vacuum]] of space.


==Discovery==
==Discovery==
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==Disconnected tail==
==Disconnected tail==
On February 4, 2009, a team of Italian astronomers witnessed "an intriguing phenomenon in Comet Lulin's tail". Team leader Ernesto Guido explains: "We photographed the comet using a remotely-controlled telescope in New Mexico, and our images clearly showed a disconnection event. While we were looking, part of the comet's plasma tail was torn away."
On February 4, 2009, a team of [[Italian]] astronomers witnessed "an intriguing phenomenon in Comet Lulin's tail". Team leader Ernesto Guido explains: "We photographed the comet using a remotely-controlled telescope in New Mexico, and our images clearly showed a disconnection event. While we were looking, part of the comet's plasma tail was torn away."


Guido and colleagues believe the event was caused by a magnetic disturbance in the [[solar wind]] hitting the comet. Magnetic mini-storms in comet tails have been observed before—most famously in 2007 when NASA's [[STEREO]] spacecraft watched a [[coronal mass ejection]] crash into [[Comet Encke]]. Encke lost its tail in dramatic fashion, much as Comet Lulin did on February 4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=02&year=2009|title=DISCONNECTED TAIL|accessdate=2009-02-09}}</ref>
Guido and colleagues believe the event was caused by a magnetic disturbance in the [[solar wind]] hitting the comet. Magnetic mini-storms in comet tails have been observed before—most famously in 2007 when NASA's [[STEREO]] spacecraft watched a [[coronal mass ejection]] crash into [[Comet Encke]]. Encke lost its tail in dramatic fashion, much as Comet Lulin did on February 4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=02&year=2009|title=DISCONNECTED TAIL|accessdate=2009-02-09}}</ref>

Revision as of 19:53, 25 February 2009

Not to be confused with 145523 Lulin.

Template:Otheruses2

C/2007 N3 (Lulin)
Discovery
Discovered byYe Quanzhi, Lin Chi-Sheng[1][2]
Discovery dateJuly 11, 2007[1][2]
Designations
Comet Lulin
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2454656.5
(July 9, 2008)[3]
Aphelion269391.899 AU[4]
Perihelion1.212128714036556 AU[3]
Semi-major axis-5333.165975608617 AU[3]
Eccentricity1.000227281265871[3]
Orbital period49435956 Julian years[4]
Inclination178.3729945601338°[3]
Last perihelionJanuary 10, 2009[5]
Next perihelionUnknown

Comet Lulin (official designation C/2007 N3 (Lulin)) is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory.[1][2][6] It peaked in brightness and arrived at perigee for observers on Earth on February 24, 2009, at magnitude +5,[7][2][8] and at 0.411 AU from Earth.[3] The comet also appeared to be near conjunction with Saturn on February 23, and is predicted to pass near Regulus in the constellation of Leo on February 26 and 27, 2009.[2][6] It is expected to appear to pass near Comet Cardinal on May 12, 2009.[9] It currently lies 0.412 AU from Earth, appearing at magnitude +5.2 in Leo.[4][8] The comet became visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites around February 7.[10] It passed between Earth and the double star Zubenelgenubi on February 6, between Earth and Spica on February 15 and 16, between Earth and Gamma Virginis on February 19 and is predicted to pass between Earth and the star cluster M44 around March 4 and 5. According to NASA, Comet Lulin's green color comes from a combination of gases that make up its local atmosphere, primarily cyanogen and diatomic carbon, which both appear as a green glow when illuminated by sunlight in the vacuum of space.

Discovery

The comet was first photographed by astronomer Lin Chi-Sheng (林啟生) with a 16-inch telescope at the Lulin Observatory in Nantou, Taiwan on July 11, 2007. However, it was the 19-year old Ye Quanzhi (葉泉志) from Sun Yat-sen University in China who identified the new object from three of the photographs taken by Lin.

Initially, the object was thought to be an asteroid, but new images taken a week after the discovery revealed the presence of a faint coma.

The discovery occurred as part of the Lulin Sky Survey project to identify small objects in the Solar System, particularly Near-Earth Objects. The comet was named "Comet Lulin" after the observatory, and its official designation is Comet C/2007 N3.[11]

Orbit

Astronomer Brian Marsden of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory calculated that Comet Lulin reached its perihelion on January 10, 2009, at a distance of 113 million miles (182 million kilometers) from the Sun.

The orbit of Comet Lulin is very nearly a parabola, according to Marsden. It is moving in a retrograde orbit at a very low inclination of just 1.6° from the ecliptic.[11]

Disconnected tail

On February 4, 2009, a team of Italian astronomers witnessed "an intriguing phenomenon in Comet Lulin's tail". Team leader Ernesto Guido explains: "We photographed the comet using a remotely-controlled telescope in New Mexico, and our images clearly showed a disconnection event. While we were looking, part of the comet's plasma tail was torn away."

Guido and colleagues believe the event was caused by a magnetic disturbance in the solar wind hitting the comet. Magnetic mini-storms in comet tails have been observed before—most famously in 2007 when NASA's STEREO spacecraft watched a coronal mass ejection crash into Comet Encke. Encke lost its tail in dramatic fashion, much as Comet Lulin did on February 4.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kronk, Gary W. "C/2007 N3 (Lulin)". cometography.com. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e Yoshida, Seiichi (December 31, 2008). "C/2007 N3 ( Lulin )". aerith.net. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "JPL Small-Body Data (C/2007 N3)". JPL NASA. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  4. ^ a b c Peat, Chris. "Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin". Heavens-Above GmbH. Heavens-Above.com. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  5. ^ Yeomans, Donald K. "Horizon Online Ephemeris System". California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  6. ^ a b Dyer, Alan (2009). "Venus Kicks Off the Year of Astronomy (pg. 24-27)". In Dickinson, Terence (ed.). SkyNews: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing. Vol. XIV, Issue 5 (January/February 2009 ed.). Yarker, Ontario: SkyNews Inc. p. 38.
  7. ^ "Recent Comet Brightness Estimates". ICQ/CBAT/MPC. cfa.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  8. ^ a b McRobert, Alan (February 23, 2009). "Observing Highlights - Catch Comet Lulin at Its Best!". Sky & Telescope. SkyandTelescope.com. Retrieved 2009-02-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Dyer, Alan (2009). "The Top 10 Celestial Sights of 2009 (pg. 14)". In Dickinson, Terence (ed.). SkyNews: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing. Vol. XIV, Issue 5 (January/February 2009 ed.). Yarker, Ontario: SkyNews Inc. p. 38.
  10. ^ "Naked-Eye Comet". Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  11. ^ a b "Newfound Comet Lulin to Grace Night Skies". Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  12. ^ "DISCONNECTED TAIL". Retrieved 2009-02-09.
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