The comets approaching Earth on dates close to Christmas are an added attraction. Irresistible remember the star of Bethlehem and on the other hand, the doomsayers are to visit a new opportunity to predict misfortunes and evils of all kinds on 2016. In fact, these days the comet that roams the Earth does not announce nothing either good or bad, with the exception of his own presence, is fascinating, of course, but not beyond the astronomical point of view.
This is the comet C / 2013 US10, better known like Catherine, who is due to name observatory in Arizona (USA) since it was first seen a couple of years ago. From the Oort cloud, within the confines of the solar system, he suffered a gravity boost produced by the passage of a nearby star that rushed him to our neighborhood. This space traveler reached its closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion, on 15 November. Then it moved at a speed of 166,000 km per hour between the orbits of Earth and Venus. He will not pulled too our star. On November 23 became a visible object in the, albeit somewhat more subdued northern hemisphere than expected.
Those who have not yet had the opportunity to locate in the sky will find it easier Eve and New Year. The last day of the year, the comet will approach Arturo, the brightest for the inhabitants of the northern half of the planet star and an excellent reference for amateur astronomers. To take a look, experts recommend using binoculars EarthSky magazine, away from the city lights and make the observation when the Moon is waning in the sky before dawn.
A Simple view
From the first week of January, coinciding with the decline of moonshine (the new moon on January 10), the viewing conditions are optimal. The comet will be visible from midnight to sunrise. From the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute (IAC) recommend using a star chart to locate your position, as it varies each day because of its orbital motion. The latest predictions say that the kite can reach an apparent magnitude of about +5 (visible to the naked eye) in mid-January. Then it will be located near the Big Dipper, between Mizar and Alkaid stars
Catalina is spectacular. Its tail, which is twofold, measuring 800,000 km long and the core, between 4 and 20 km. Of course, with binoculars it is much more modest. It appears as a small hazy patch and you can barely glimpse of the queues. If you are lucky enough to have a good telescope by hand, the observation will be much better, but it will be very difficult to appreciate the green color of the comet’s coma, or atmosphere, notified in EarthSky. That flashy glare, caused by gases rock, it can be detected by the cameras, which are more sensitive than the human eye.
On January 17, the Catalina rock will reach its closest point our planet, but there is no reason to worry. Its orbit lies about 110 million km away, hundreds of times farther than the distance of the Moon. It has a hyperbolic orbit, which means that we will not see it. It will leave the planetary region of the solar system in a matter of decades and never return. The IAC said in a statement that this vagabond information carries in her womb the genesis of our solar system, and only have two months to try to meet him.
The next comet is expected to be easily visible glance is the 46P / Wirtanen, which come during Christmas 2018. That’s if there is not some unknown spontaneous, because the sky is always full of surprises
Credit. Abc.es
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