New space 'eye-candy' to appear in skies in mid-June

[Kshasty]

The C/2009 R1 comet is nearing the Earth and will be visible in the Northern hemisphere with a naked eye in mid-June, NASA said on its website.

The comet, discovered in 2009 by well-known British-Australian astronomer and "comet-catcher" Robert H. McNaught, is already visible through powerful binoculars in the morning sky.

NASA said the comet will reach its closest proximity to the Earth by June 15 and could shine just above the horizon in the Perseus constellation. It could be brighter than Venus and visible during the day.

The comet's green plasma head, or coma, is larger than the planet Jupiter, while the long willowy ion tail stretches more than a million kilometers through space.



http://en.rian.ru/science/20100608/159346936.html

[FSogol]

1. Cool, thanks for posting. n/t

[axollot]

2. kick! I love stuff like this - hope I wont miss it!! n/t Rec'ed too!

[qazplm]

3. bigger than Jupiter?

That's amazing! Obviously it's very very very thin but still...

[hootinholler]

4. That's a BIG comet. n/t

[Deep13]

5. Cool! nt

[dickthegrouch]

6. How long till it returns?

Neither article says what its periodicity is.