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Comet Catalina Coming To a Night Sky Near You (www.cbc.ca)

Posted by samzenpus on from the bright-light dept.

TigerNut writes: CBC is running a story on the upcoming closest approach of Comet Catalina. While the headline makes it sound like a one-night deal for the morning of January 1, the best viewing may actually occur next weekend (Jan 8-10) because the moon will not be a bright distraction at that time. The CBC reports: "Comet Catalina, which is less than 20 kilometres across, was discovered in 2013 by the Tuscon, Ariz.-based Catalina Sky Survey, which looks for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. At first, it was thought to be a very large near-Earth asteroid. But astronomers soon realized it was actually a very long, near-parabolic orbit and observations with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope showed 'modest cometary activity.'"

8 of 26 comments (clear)

  1. I can see it right now by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 5, Informative

    Catalina is very easy to find right now because in the predawn sky it's right next to the bright orange star Arcturus, which is the star that the handle of the Big Dipper points to. Night after night, it will move toward the Dipper and then up the handle.

    1. Re:I can see it right now by turkeydance · · Score: 2

      exactly...so IF something is visible without binoculars/telescope, and the sun/moon/weather don't interfere, then make every effort to see it. personally, i'm already planning for the 2017 eclipse (vacation, etc.)

  2. Near-parabolic? by Deadstick · · Score: 2

    What the hell does that mean?

    If it's parabolic but really really long, "near-hyperbolic" would be a reasonable description -- that's not out of the ordinary for comets.

    1. Re:Near-parabolic? by Idarubicin · · Score: 3, Funny

      What the hell does that mean?

      If it's parabolic but really really long, "near-hyperbolic" would be a reasonable description -- that's not out of the ordinary for comets.

      Presumably it means that its orbit is closed - elliptical - but is only very loosely gravitationally bound--perhaps even more so that most comets. In other words, its velocity is only just shy of escape velocity, hence near-parabolic. Yes, mathematically speaking, that means that its orbit must also be near-hyperbolic; an infinitesimal increase in velocity converts a parabolic path into a hyperbolic one (and an infinitesimal decrease in velocity converts a parabolic path into a long-period ellipse).

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    2. Re:Near-parabolic? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      Catalina is in a hyperbolic orbit, meaning that because it slightly exceeds the escape velocity of the Solar System, it is headed for interstellar space and will never be seen again.

      And it's a virgin comet, pulled into the inner System from the Oort cloud for the first time. Because this could just as easily be the scenario for the next Earth-killer asteroid, we need to find a science-friendly location for that Thirty Meter Telescope, so that it can be built and possibly spot such an object in time for us to deflect it. Let's all pull for the Tibetan Plateau.

  3. Not coming to a sky near -me- by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 2

    I live in the middle of the Sprawl; if I'm lucky, on a very clear night, I see 9 stars (I counted). If I drive 20 miles, I'll at least see more stars than I have fingers but I'd probably need twice that for a even a /chance/ to see the comet. And for "astronomy class", ohmigosh-the-universe-is-huge-I-need-to-go-home-and-reconsider-my-place-in-the-universe type of sky-gazing, we're talking at least a 200 mile drive to get clear of the light and pollution of the cities. And I /know/ that whatever day I set aside to make that drive, it's going to be cloudy that night.

    It's a shame too. I personally think that the reason our society is becoming insular and risk-averse is that - with so many of us cloistered in cities - we no longer have the awe-inspiring panorama of the night-sky coming out every night to challenge us. Surrounded by our warrens, the universe looks conquered already, so why bother spending trillions just to poke the "rare" unexplored bit? Sometimes I half-believe our society would react like in Asimov's "Nightfall" were we all suddenly to be confronted with an unblemished night sky again.

    1. Re:Not coming to a sky near -me- by BlackPignouf · · Score: 2

      Yes, light pollution sucks big time.
      If you can see bright stars, you can surely see Venus, Saturn and Jupiter.
      They're pretty fun to look at, even with a small and cheap dobsonian (e.g. http://www.telescope.com/Teles...).
      I love mine, and it helps me connect with our sky even in a light polluted area. I can also see some of the brightest nebulae and galaxies.
      I'm pretty sure you'd be able to see Catalina with it even from the Sprawl.

  4. Confusion by codeButcher · · Score: 2

    And here I thought this is some awful marketing gimmick for some vastly speed-improved version of the Tomcat servlet container.....

    Turns out Wikipedia's disambiguation page could use some updating.

    Further turns out the thing's proper name is C/2013 US10

    --
    Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.