William Atkins
Thursday, 19 February 2009 21:18
Science -
Space
Page 3 of 4
On February 24, 2009, Comet Lulin will be +5 magnitude in brightness, easily seen by the naked eye in the darkened night sky without the presence of human-made lights.
A person using a telescope or binoculars should be able to actually see the comet move across the sky as compared against the fixed position of the background stars.
It is traveling, from our perspective on Earth, about five degrees per day, which to astronomers is about one arcsecond every five seconds of time.
This motion is sufficient to see obvious movement across the sky while looking through a telescope or binoculars.
The comet will also be very close to Saturn on February 24, 2009, when a quadruple-transit of the moons of Saturn will occur. The four moons—Titan, Mimas, Dione, and Enceladus—will move across the face of Saturn.
At about the same time, you’ll be able to see Comet Lulin only a few degrees from Saturn and its moons.
Comet Lulin will pass about two degrees south-southwest of the planet Saturn on this night.
Page four contains sky charts of the event, along with a additional article on the quadruple transit of Saturn by four of its moons.
