Comet Lulin and Saturn Coincidence - Feb. 24, 2009
COINCIDENCE of the cosmos.
The odds are staggering. On Tuesday, February 24th, Saturn and Comet
Lulin converge in the constellation Leo only 2 degrees apart. At the
same time, Comet Lulin will be making its closest approach to Earth,
showing itself at its best as four of Saturn's moons transit the disk
of the ringed planet in view of backyard telescopes for Amateur Astronomers.
Oh, and the Moon will be new, providing dark skies for anyone who
wishes to see the show.
The best time to look is around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning (your local
time) when the planet-comet combo ascend high in the southern sky. To
the unaided eye, Comet Lulin looks like a faint patch of gas floating
next to golden Saturn. Point your backyard telescope at that patch and
you will see a lovely green comet with a double tail.
Geographic Notes: Comet Lulin is visible from all parts of the
globe--all longitudes and both hemispheres. Directions are reversed in
the southern hemisphere; there the comet is located in the northern
sky around 1 am. Saturn is globally visible, too, but the special
quadruple transit of Saturn's moons starting around 3 a.m. PST on Feb.
24th is visible only to observers around the Pacific Rim.
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