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Comet Machholz Now Visible to Naked Eye

Posted by timothy on from the does-not-apply-to-heavy-glasses-wearers dept.

An anonymous reader submits "A comet discovered only this summer is brightening quickly and already visible to the unaided eye. Comet Macholz should be visible to the unaided eye until late January. On the night of January 7 - 8, it will sail about 2 degrees (4 Moon widths) to the west of the easily recognisable Pleiades star cluster, often known as the Seven Sisters. It will be at its closest to Earth Jan. 5-6, 2005, when it will be 32 million miles away." (Mentioned a few days ago, too.)

3 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. It's all over now. by Mish · · Score: 2, Funny
    A comet discovered only this summer is brightening quickly and already visible to the unaided eye. Comet Macholz should be visible to the unaided eye until late January...
    ...At which point it'll impact the earth and no-longer be visable? ;)
  2. Darn useless NASA by Yeechang+Lee · · Score: 2, Funny

    What good are all those billions we spend for NASA's budget, when we don't even have a single hydrogen bomb-carrying spaceship? Can we trust the Space Administration to be able to dig up even a single team of expert oil drillers to blow up Machholz once it's inevitably revealed as the Texas-sized planet killer it surely is? I think not.

    1. Re:Darn useless NASA by fm6 · · Score: 2, Funny

      If we spent as much money on space exploration as we spent on lame-ass movies, everbody would own a comet by now!