Universe Today

November 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Jason Major

The Day the Earth Smiled: Saturn Shines in this Amazing Image from the Cassini Team

The "pale blue dot" of Earth as seen from Cassini on July 19, 2013.

This summer, for the first time ever, the world was informed that its picture was going to be taken from nearly a billion miles away as the Cassini spacecraft captured images of Saturn in eclipse on July 19. On that day we were asked to take a moment and smile and wave at Saturn, from wherever we were, because the faint light from our planet would be captured by Cassini’s camera, shielded by Saturn from the harsh glare of the Sun.

A few preliminary images were released just a few days later showing the “pale blue dot” of Earth nestled within the glowing bands of Saturn’s rings. It was an amazing perspective of our planet, and we were promised that the full mosaic of Cassini images was being worked on and would be revealed in the fall.

Well, it’s fall, and here it is:

The full mosaic from the Cassini imaging team of Saturn on July 19, 2013... the "Day the Earth Smiled" — The full mosaic from the Cassini imaging team of Saturn on July 19, 2013… the “Day the Earth Smiled”

Simply beautiful!

Cassini Imaging Team leader Carolyn Porco wrote on her Facebook page:

“After much work, the mosaic that marks that moment the inhabitants of Earth looked up and smiled at the sheer joy of being alive is finally here. In its combination of beauty and meaning, it is perhaps the most unusual image ever taken in the history of the space program.”

Download a full-size version here.

Earth and Moon seen by Cassini on July 19, 2013

In this panorama of the Saturnian system, a view spanning 404,880 miles (651,591 km), we see the planet silhouetted against the light from the Sun. It’s a unique perspective that highlights the icy, reflective particles that make up its majestic rings and also allows our own planet to be seen, over 900 million miles distant. And it’s not just Earth that was captured, but the Moon, Venus, and Mars were caught in the shot too.

According to the description on the CICLOPS page, “Earth’s twin, Venus, appears as a bright white dot in the upper left quadrant of the mosaic… between the G and E rings. Mars also appears as a faint red dot embedded in the outer edge of the E ring, above and to the left of Venus.”

This was no simple point-and-click. Over 320 images were captured by Cassini on July 19 over a period of four hours, and this mosaic was assembled from 141 of those images. Because the spacecraft, Saturn, and its moons were all in constant motion during that time, affecting not only positions but also levels of illumination, imaging specialists had to adjust for that to create the single image you see above. So while all elements may not be precisely where they were at the same moment in time, the final result is no less stunning.

“This version was processed for balance and beauty,” it says in the description. (And I’ve no argument with that.)

See below for an annotated version showing the position of all visible objects, and read the full article on the CICLOPS page for an in-depth description of this gorgeous and historic image.

“I hope long into the future, when people look again at this image, they will recall the moment when, as crazy as it might have seemed, they were there, they were aware, and they smiled.”

–Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader

Also, check out another version of this image from NASA made up of submitted photos from people waving at Saturn from all over the world. (Full NASA press release here.)

All images credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

UPDATE 11/13: CICLOPS Director Carolyn Porco describes how this image was acquired and assembled in this interview video from the World Science Festival:

November 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Supersonic Starbirth Bubble Glows In Image From Two Telescopes

Stellar birth is visible in this image of HH 46/47 taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ALMA

Talk about birth in the fast lane. Fresh observations of HH 46/47 — an area well-known for hosting a baby star — demonstrate material from the star pushing against the surrounding gas at supersonic speeds.

“HH” stands for Herbig-Haro, a type of object created “when jets shot out by newborn stars collide with surrounding material, producing small, bright, nebulous regions,” NASA stated. It’s a little hard to see what’s inside these regions, however, as they’re clouded by debris (specifically, gas and dust).

The Spitzer space telescope (which looks in infrared) and the massive Chilean Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are both designed to look through the stuff to see what’s within. Here’s what they’ve spotted:

– ALMA: The telescope is showing that the gas is moving apart faster than ever believed, which could have echoes on how the star cloud is forming generally. “In turn, the extra turbulence could have an impact on whether and how other stars might form in this gaseous, dusty, and thus fertile, ground for star-making,” NASA added.

Another view of HH 46/47 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Credit: ESO/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/H. Arce. Acknowledgements to Bo Reipurth

– Spitzer: Two supersonic blobs are emerging from the star in the middle and pushing against the gas, creating the big bubbles you can see here. The right-aiming blob has a lot more material to push through than the left one, “offering a handy compare-and-contrast setup for how the outflows from a developing star interact with their surroundings,” NASA stated.

“Young stars like our sun need to remove some of the gas collapsing in on them to become stable, and HH 46/47 is an excellent laboratory for studying this outflow process,” stated Alberto Noriega-Crespo, a scientist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology.

“Thanks to Spitzer, the HH 46/47 outflow is considered one of the best examples of a jet being present with an expanding bubble-like structure.”

The ALMA observations of HH 46/47 were first revealed in detail this summer, in an Astrophysical Journal publication.

Source: NASA

November 12, 2013December 30, 2015 by Jason Major

Chris Hadfield Tells Conan O’Brien What Happens to Underwear in Space

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield appeared on Conan last night, and if you missed it here’s a clip in which Conan O’Brien asks Chris to answer one of his most nagging questions about life in orbit: “Do you guys do laundry in space? How do you take care of that issue?”

Like Conan, you might be surprised at his response! (Seen any “shooting stars” recently?)

See this and more videos from Conan on the TeamCoco YouTube page.

November 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Space Internet? Rocket Flight Aims To Test Earth-To-Space Communications

The cameras mounted in the ISS's cupola could serve as the platform for the first-ever quantum optics experiment in space.

Imagine you’re a space tourist wanting to blog about your experience. Too impatient to wait for the ride back to solid ground, you open up your laptop on the way home and post pictures and video of the experience just minutes after you were zooming through suborbital space.

That would only be possible if there was some sort of infrastructure available to send messages over the Internet or on text protocols, and according to Brian Barnett, there’s plenty of demand from the private sector, NASA and universities to do so. That’s why this morning, his company (Satwest) will put a temporary wi-fi hotspot in space aboard a rocket from Denver’s UP Aerospace Inc.

“It’s our first test of the technology in space,” Barnett told Universe Today. “We use the technology on the ground, and in airplanes already, and this will be the first test in space.”

Satwest Communications launches its Earth-to-space communications payload during a test balloon flight on Sept. 26, 2013. A November rocket flight aims to bring a similar payload into space. Credit: Satwest Communications

Here’s how it works: on board the rocket will be a satellite phone and e-mail device. Once it launches from Spaceport America in New Mexico around 10 a.m. Eastern (3 p.m. UTC) today (if all stays to schedule), high school students at Bosque School in Albuquerque will send out famous space movie lines.

The information will be transmitted to a ground station in Phoenix, which will transmit the message to the nearest Iridium satellite.

That satellite will then relay the message to the Iridium satellite that is closest to the rocket, which will zoom to a maximum altitude of 70 miles (112 kilometers). That’s just past the 62-mile (100 kilometer) Karman line that is a commonly accepted point for the edge of space.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo during a test flight. Credit: Virgin Galactic — Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo during a test flight. Credit: Virgin Galactic

SatWest currently has a contract for NASA suborbital rocket communications because there is a demand for experimenters wanting to have two-way, real-time chats with their payloads while they’re in the middle of their work. Other customers include Virgin Galactic, the Federal Aviation Administration, Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace.

Astronauts on the International Space Station can already transmit messages to the ground using NASA systems, but Barnett said his option could be cheaper if it is installed up there. (He added he is speaking theoretically as his current contract parameters are for suborbital rocket flights only.)

We’ll keep you posted on how the flight goes.

November 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Go Mars-Digging Beside Curiosity In New Interactive Panorama

A still from a Mars Curiosity panorama stitched together from NASA images. Credit: Andrew Bodrov, from NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS images

Here’s a nice distraction to start off the day: pretend you’re playing in the sandbox of Mars alongside Curiosity. This new panorama shows the NASA Rover hanging out somewhat nearby Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons), its ultimate destination for the two-year prime mission it’s currently on.

“The images for panorama [were] obtained by the rover’s 34-millimeter Mast Camera,” wrote Andrew Bodrov on a blog post describing his work. “The mosaic, which stretches about 30,000 pixels’ width, includes 101 images taken on Sol 437.”

Bodrov, who is from Estonia, frequently does space-related panoramas. We wrote about a couple of other Curiosity panoramas he did in March 2013, in February 2013 and August 2012.

Last year, he told Universe Today that he has used PTGui panoramic stitching software from New House Internet Services BV to accomplish the stunning views.

He also has a wealth of images from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is the launch site for Soyuz spacecraft missions.

“It’s very nice to see the achievements of humanity which allows you to see a picture of another world,” Bodrov said in 2012.

November 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Bob King

Track Comet ISON’s Journey Around the Sun with this Paper Model

Comet ISON is making its way through the inner solar system. Visualize its unusual orbit and track its journey around the sun with this paper model. The background image shows comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT). Credit: NASA and T. A. Rector (Univ. of Alaska Anchorage), Z. Levay and L. Frattare (STScI) and WIYN/NOAO/AURA/NSF

Planet orbits are so easy to picture – eight nearly concentric hula hoops centered on the sun. Comets are weirder. Their orbits vary from tapered ellipses shaped like cigars to completely open-ended parabolas and even hyperbolas. Comet ISON’s highly-elongated (stretched out) orbit is best described as hyperbolic, although that’s subject to change if Jupiter gets into the act and gives the comet a gravitational nudge during its outbound journey. As the largest planet, it has a special knack for this kind of trick, having tamed many a wayward comet’s orbit into a neat ellipse.

*Comets can travel in a variety of orbits from elliptical to open-ended parabolic and hyperbolic. Credit: Wikipedia*

Comets in hyperbolic and parabolic orbits are typically making their first trip to the sun from the bitterly cold and distant Oort Cloud, a roughly spherical volume of space beginning about 3,000 times Earth’s distance from the sun and extending outward to 50,000 times that distance or nearly one-quarter of the way to Alpha Centauri. The Cloud is believed to hold trillions of icy comets. Think of it as the sun’s ultimate beer cave.

To help visualize Comet ISON’s travels across the solar system we can always go the Internet and search for images and video, but sometimes it’s fun to use your own hands. Building a model using a simple cardboard template can make the knowledge “stick”. Not to mention it’s an excellent classroom activity for teachers preparing students for the comet’s post-perihelion display. All you need is this color pdf file, a printer and a few minutes to assemble.

The familiar solar system with its 8 planets occupies a tiny space inside a large spherical shell containing trillions of comets - the Oort Cloud. Credit: Wikimedia Commons — *The familiar solar system with its 8 planets occupies a tiny space inside a large spherical shell containing trillions of comets – the Oort Cloud. Credit: Wikimedia Commons*

Planets’ orbits are only slightly tilted to each other, but Oort Cloud comets drop in from any angle they choose. Gravitational interactions with passing stars and clouds of interstellar gas nudge them into the inner solar system, where they’re cooked by the sun into glowing and long tails composed of vaporizing ice and dust. Long ago, some passing star gave ISON a push. It’s been falling toward the sun ever since.

Animation of Comet ISON’s orbit created by NASA

While it may be tough to picture Comet ISON’s orbit slicing the planetary racetrack at a 62-degree angle, the paper model will give you an intuitive understanding of ISON’s path and comet orbits in general.

P.S. In case you’re a klutz with a scissors just click on the Youtube video above.

November 11, 2013December 23, 2015 by Jason Major

Russia’s Second Shot at Phobos May Return Bits of Mars As Well

The streaked and stained surface of Phobos. (Image: NASA)

After the tragic failure of the first Phobos-Grunt mission to even make it out of low-Earth orbit, the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) is hoping to give it another go at Mars’ largest moon with the Phobos-Grunt 2 mission in 2020. This new-and-improved version of the spacecraft will also feature a lander and return stage, and, if successful, may not only end up sending back pieces of Phobos but of Mars as well.

The origins of Phobos have long been a topic of planetary science debate. Did it form with Mars as a planet? Is it a wayward asteroid that ventured too closely to Mars? Or is it a chunk of the Red Planet blasted up into orbit from an ancient impact event? Only in-depth examination of its surface material will allow scientists to determine which scenario is most likely (or if the correct answer is really “none of the above”) and Russia’s ambitious Phobos-Grunt mission attempted to become the first ever to not only land on the 16-mile-wide moon but also send samples back to Earth.

Unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards. After launching on Nov. 9, 2011, Phobos-Grunt’s upper stage failed to ignite, stranding it in low-Earth orbit. After all attempts to re-establish communication and control of the ill-fated spacecraft failed, Phobos-Grunt crashed back to Earth on Jan. 15, impacting in the southern Pacific off the coast of Chile.

But with a decade of development already invested in the mission, Roscosmos is willing to try again. “Ad astra per aspera,” as it’s said, and Phobos-Grunt 2 will attempt to overcome all hardships in 2020 to do what its predecessor couldn’t.

And, according to participating researchers James Head and Kenneth Ramsley from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the sample mission could end up being a “twofer.”

Phobos floats in front of Mars' horizon in a Mars Express image from January 2007 (ESA) — Phobos floats in front of Mars’ horizon in a Mars Express image from January 2007 (ESA)

Orbiting at an altitude of only 5,840 miles (9,400 km) Phobos has been passing through plumes material periodically blown off of Mars by impact events. Its surface soil very likely contains a good amount of Mars itself, scooped up over the millennia.

“When an impactor hits Mars, only a certain of proportion of ejecta will have enough velocity to reach the altitude of Phobos, and Phobos’ orbital path intersects only a certain proportion of that,” said Ramsley, a visiting researcher in Brown’s planetary geosciences group. “So we can crunch those numbers and find out what proportion of material on the surface of Phobos comes from Mars.”

Determining that ratio would then help figure out where Phobos was in Mars orbit millions of years ago, which in turn could point at its origins.

“Only recently — in the last several 100 million years or so — has Phobos orbited so close to Mars,” Ramsley said. “In the distant past it orbited much higher up. So that’s why you’re going to see probably 10 to 100 times higher concentration in the upper regolith as opposed to deeper down.”

In addition, having an actual sample of Phobos (along with stowaway bits of Mars) in hand on Earth, as well as all the data acquired during the mission itself, would give scientists invaluable insight to the moon’s as-yet-unknown internal composition.

“Phobos has really low density,” said Head, professor of geological sciences at Brown and an author on the study. “Is that low density due to ice in its interior or is it due to Phobos being completely fragmented, like a loose rubble pile? We don’t know.”

The study was published in Volume 87 of Space and Planetary Science (Mars impact ejecta in the regolith of Phobos: Bulk concentration and distribution.)

Source: Brown University news release and RussianSpaceWeb.com.

See more images of Phobos here.

November 11, 2013December 28, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Astronomy Cast 321: Solar Flares

Sometimes the Sun is quiet, and other times the Sun gets downright unruly. During the peak of its 11-year cycle, the surface of the Sun is littered with darker sunspots. And its from these sunspots that the Sun generates massive solar flares, which can spew radiation and material in our direction. What causes these flares, and how worried should we be about them in our modern age of fragile technology?
Continue reading “Astronomy Cast 321: Solar Flares”

November 11, 2013December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Requires Extra Thruster Firing after Premature Engine Shutdown

Spectacular view of the PSLV C25 leaving the First launch pad with ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft on Nov. 5, 2013. Credit: ISRO

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) probe suffered a surprise hiccup overnight (Nov. 11 IST) when the main engine shut down prematurely and left the country’s first ever mission to the Red Planet flying in a significantly lower than planned interim elliptical orbit around Earth – following what was to be her 4th orbit raising burn since last week’s flawless launch.

“MOM is in normal health,” at this time according to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) – which has now scheduled a supplementary main engine firing for early Tuesday (Nov. 12) to boost the crafts orbit the missing 20,000 km required.

Monday’s engine firing only raised MOM’s apogee (farthest point to Earth) from 71,623 km to 78,276 km compared to the originally planned apogee of about 100,000 [1 lakh] km), said ISRO in a press release.

This is the first serious problem to strike MOM in space. And it seemed clear to me something might be amiss when ISRO failed to quickly announce a successful completion of the 4th firing as had been the pattern for the initial three burns.

Trajectory graphic showing new supplemental 5th Midnight Maneuver thruster firing of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft planned for Nov. 12 (IST) following the premature main engine shutdown during 4th orbit raising engine burn on Nov. 11. Credit: ISRO — Trajectory graphic showing new supplemental 5th Midnight Maneuver thruster firing of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft planned for Nov. 12 (IST) following the premature main engine shutdown during 4th orbit raising engine burn on Nov. 11. Credit: ISRO

The premature shutdown of the liquid fueled 440 Newton main engine “imparted an incremental velocity of 35 metres/second as against 130 metres/second originally planned,” ISRO stated.

That’s barely a quarter of what was hoped for.

“A supplementary orbit-raising operation is planned tomorrow (November 12, 2013) at 0500 hrs IST to raise the apogee to nearly 1 lakh [100,000] km.”

A series of six absolutely essential firings of the 440 Newton main engine – dubbed “midnight maneuvers” – had been originally scheduled by Indian space engineers.

The purpose of the “midnight maneuvers” is to achieve Earth escape velocity by gradually raising MOM’s apogee over several weeks, and set her on a trans Mars trajectory to the Red Planet, following the spectacular blastoff on Nov. 5 from India’s spaceport.

Graphic showing trajectory that had been planned for the Fourth Midnight Maneuver of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft on Nov. 11 until early shutdown of the 440N liquid fueled main engine. Credit: ISRO — Graphic showing trajectory that had been planned for the Fourth Midnight Maneuver of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft on Nov. 11 until early shutdown of the 440N liquid fueled main engine. Credit: ISRO

MOM was due to depart Earth’s orbit on Dec. 1 after accomplishing the 6th of the originally scheduled thruster firings – and begin a 10 month long interplanetary cruise to Mars.

MOM’s picture perfect Nov. 5 liftoff atop India’s highly reliable four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C25 from the ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, precisely injected the spacecraft into an initial elliptical Earth parking orbit of 247 x 23556 kilometers with an inclination of 19.2 degrees.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd thruster firings were spot on and incrementally raised MOM’s apogee from 23556 km to 28814 km, 40186 km and 71,623 km respectively.

The next firing had been slated for Nov. 16.

Here’s how ISRO described the source of the main engine shutdown:

“During the fourth orbit-raising operations held today (November 11, 2013), the redundancies built-in for the propulsion system were exercised, namely, (a) energising the primary and redundant coils of the solenoid flow control valve of 440 Newton Liquid Engine and (b) logic for thrust augmentation by the attitude control thrusters, when needed.

However, when both primary and redundant coils were energised together, as one of the planned modes, the flow to the Liquid Engine stopped. The thrust level augmentation logic, as expected, came in and the operation continued using the attitude control thrusters. This sequence resulted in reduction of the incremental velocity.”

Artists concept shows Midnight Maneuver thruster firing of the liquid engine of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft. Credit: ISRO

It is not known at this time how or whether the requirement for a supplemental “midnight maneuver” engine firing will affect the mission’s timing at Earth and its operations and longevity at Mars.

Why are the firings called midnight maneuvers?

“Firing has to happen near the perigee and in the visibility from ISTRAC ground stations. All these orbits have argument of perigee of ~285 deg. When all these constraints are put together, firings time will almost always fall in to midnights of Indian sub continent,” said ISRO in response to a readers inquiry.

In the latest update, ISRO reports: “After achieving an apogee of around 78,000 km in last night’s Maneuver, ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft is all set to reach the apogee of One lakh km in a supplementary maneuver scheduled for 5 AM tomorrow. [Nov 12].”

MOM was to arrive in the vicinity of Mars on September 24, 2014 when the absolutely essential Mars orbital insertion firing by the 440 Newton liquid fueled main engine will slow the probe and place it into a 366 km x 80,000 km elliptical orbit.

Clouds on the ground ! The sky seems inverted for a moment ! Blastoff of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on Nov. 5, 2013 from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Credit: ISRO

If all goes well, India will join an elite club of only four who have launched probes that successfully investigated the Red Planet from orbit or the surface – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The low cost $69 Million MOM mission is the first of two new Mars orbiter science probes from Earth blasting off for the Red Planet this November.

Half a world away, NASA’s $671 Million MAVEN orbiter remains on target to launch in less than one week on Nov. 18 – from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Both MAVEN and MOM’s goal is to study the Martian atmosphere, unlock the mysteries of its current atmosphere and determine how, why and when the atmosphere and liquid water was lost – and how this transformed Mars climate into its cold, desiccated state of today.

The MAVEN and MOM science teams will “work together” to unlock the secrets of Mars atmosphere and climate history, MAVEN’s top scientist Prof. Bruce Jakosky told Universe Today.

Stay tuned here for continuing MOM and MAVEN news and Ken’s MAVEN launch reports from on site at the Kennedy Space Center press center

Ken Kremer

…………….

Learn more about MAVEN, MOM, Mars rovers, Orion and more at Ken’s upcoming presentations

Nov 14-19: “MAVEN Mars Launch and Curiosity Explores Mars, Orion and NASA’s Future”, Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, 8 PM

Dec 11: “Curiosity, MAVEN and the Search for Life on Mars”, “LADEE & Antares ISS Launches from Virginia”, Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, Franklin Institute, Phila, PA, 8 PM

November 11, 2013December 23, 2015 by David Dickinson

Tracking Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy through November

Comet R1 Lovejoy passes the Beehive Cluster: (Credit Damian Peach).

Tired of comets yet? Right now, northern hemisphere observers have four (!) comets within range of binoculars in the dawn sky. Comet C/2012 S1 ISON, is, of course, expected to dazzle towards month’s end. Comet 2P/Encke is an “old standby,” with the shortest orbital period of any comet known at 3.3 years, and is making a favorable appearance this Fall. And comet C/2012 X1 LINEAR added to the morning display recently, reaching about +8^th magnitude in an unexpected outburst…

But the brightest and best placed comet for morning viewing is currently Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy. Shining at +6^th magnitude, R1 Lovejoy just passed into the constellation Leo after a photogenic pass near the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer last week. We caught sight of R1 Lovejoy a few mornings ago, and it’s an easy binocular object, looking like a fuzzy unresolved globular cluster with barely the hint of a tail.

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because the comet was discovered by Australian observer Terry Lovejoy, the prolific discoverer of four comets, including the brilliant sungrazing Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy that survived its 140,000 kilometre perihelion passage above the surface of the Sun on December 16th and went on to dazzle southern hemisphere observers in late 2011 and early 2012.

Comet R1 Lovejoy as imaged by Rob Sparks (@HalfAstro) from Tucson, Arizona near the Beehive cluster. (Credit: Rob Sparks). — Comet R1 Lovejoy as imaged by Rob Sparks (@HalfAstro) from Tucson, Arizona passing near the Beehive cluster. (Credit: Rob Sparks).

Terry discovered R1 Lovejoy on September 7^th, 2013 while it was still at magnitude +14.4. The comet is expected to top out at +4^th magnitude in late November as it passes 61.4 million kilometres from Earth on November 19^th and heads for perihelion at 0.877 AUs from the Sun on December 25^nd, 2013. Comet R1 Lovejoy is on a 64 degree orbit highly inclined to the ecliptic, and has a period roughly 7,000 years long. The last time R1 Lovejoy graced Earthly skies, our early ancestors still thought copper smelting was a pretty hip idea!

The orbital path of Comet R1 Lovejoy through the inner solar system. (Credit: NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics explorer).

And unlike comets Encke and ISON that are plunging near the Sun, Comet R1 Lovejoy never gets closer than 19 degrees elongation from our nearest star in late December. It also reaches a maximum northern declination of 43 degrees on November 28^th, the same day that ISON reaches perihelion. For mid-latitude northern hemisphere observers, R1 Lovejoy will remain well placed at 35 to 45 degrees above the northeastern horizon about an hour before sunrise through late November.

Here are some key dates to aid you in your quest to spy Comet R1 Lovejoy in late November:

November 11^th: Passes near +4.5 Kappa Leonis.

November 14^th: Passes from Leo into the constellation Leo Minor & passes near the +5.3 star 20 Leonis Minoris.

November 16^th: Passes near the +5^th magnitude stars 28, 30, and 34 Leonis Minoris.

November 18^th: Passes into the constellation Ursa Major.

November 19^th: Passes near the +4.8 magnitude star 55 Ursae Majoris & +5.3 magnitude star 57 Ursae Majoris.

November 19^th: Closest to Earth, at 0.4 AUs distant.

The celestial path of Comet R1 Lovejoy spanning November 11th to the 30th. (Created using Starry Night Education software).

November 21^st: Passes into the constellation Canes Venatici.

November 22^nd: Passes near the +6^th magnitude star 4 Canum Venaticorum & the +4.2 magnitude star Chara (Beta Canum Venaticorum).

November 24^th: Passes near the Sunflower Galaxy (M63).

November 27^th: Passes into the constellation Boötes.

December 1^st: Passes near +3.5 magnitude star Nekkar (Beta Boötis).

December 4^th: crosses into Corona Borealis.

Note that passes on the list above denote passages closer than one degree of Comet R1 Lovejoy near bright objects.

Perihelion for the comet is December 25^th at 0.877 AU, and its closest approach to Earth is November 19^th. On this date, it will also be moving at its maximum apparent speed as seen from Earth, covering about 3 degrees of the sky every 24 hours, or the angular span of the Full Moon every 4 hours.

United Kingdom observer Pete Lawrence imaged Comet R1 Lovejoy this past weekend from his backyard garden using a 4-inch apochromatic refractor and a Canon 40D DSLR:

Comet R1 Lovejoy as imaged by Pete Lawrence on November 9th. (Credit: Pete Lawrence).

He also made his first confirmed binocular sighting of Comet ISON using a pair of 15×70 binocs, noting to Universe Today that “ISON’s head appears to be small and stellar compared to Lovejoy’s extended coma, which is obvious in binoculars, and also brighter!”

It’s worth noting that all four of these morning comets are on separate orbital paths, and only seem to be in the same general region of the sky as seen from our Earthly vantage point… and none of them are passing near the Earth!

This week is also a good time to hunt for comets in the pre-dawn sky for another reason: the Moon reaches Full this coming weekend on Sunday, November 17^th. After this week, it will start to creep into the morning sky and interfere with deep sky observations for the next two weeks.

Comet R1 Lovejoy imaged on November 10th by astrophtographer Justin Ng. (Credit: Justin Ng).

It’s also interesting to note that amateur observers discovered two more faint comets this past weekend. Though comets C/2013 V3 Nevski and C/2013 V2 Borisov aren’t slated to be anything spectacular, that brings the number of amateur discoveries to 13 for 2013. Are amateur comet hunters mounting a comeback?

In this age of automated surveys, the question is often raised as to whether amateurs can still discover comets. Keep in mind, Terry Lovejoy found Comet R1 Lovejoy with a medium-sized 8-inch Schmidt Cassegrain reflecting telescope… the age of amateur comet hunters seemes far from over in 2013!