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Related: About this forumNewly-Discovered Comet May Outshine The Moon
Newly-Discovered Comet May Outshine The Moon
2:37pm UK, Monday 01 October 2012
If a recently found comet lives up to expectation it could become "one of the brightest in history", says an astronomer.
A newly-discovered comet should become one of the brightest lights in the sky - even outshining the Moon, according to astronomers.
Russian astronomers recently spotted comet 2012 S1 (ISON) 90 million kilometres from the Earth, according to a report by National Geographic.
It is currently a faint glow streaking between Saturn and Jupiter, but as the Sun's gravity draws the comet closer, dust and ice will be blasted off, it giving it a highly-reflective tail.
Depending on how big the tails gets, the three-kilometre wide comet may become more visible for a few months in late 2013 and early 2014.
More:
http://news.sky.com/story/991654/newly-discovered-comet-may-outshine-the-moon
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Confusious
(8,317 posts)Sweet!
Now if Betelgeuse would blow, that would be AWESOME....
jonthebru
(1,034 posts)My father saw Halley's comet in the early 20th century when you could see it during the day.
If this is as bright as they predict it may be visible during the day.