So it looks like we may get ourselves a comet in our skies around the 22nd of July!
Woohoooo how excited am I to get a birthday comet (that Xmas comet just wasn't enough
). Okay, so it's 2 days after my birthday but close enough I say!
The latest issue of Astronomy Magazine is saying Quote, " we could be treated to a 7th magnitude streak hanging low in the evening sky during late July." Apparently we may get to see it as early as July 21st appearing low in the northwest sky moving eastward through Leo. From what I can gather so far it's supposed to come out from behind the sun on July 17th which is today. I couldn't find anywhere any update info so I chased up my facebook friend David J. Eicher (editor in chief of Astronomy Magazine) and he gave me some news on it today.
Quote:
Hi Suzy, right now 96P/Machholz shines at about magnitude 2.9 but it’s just 4.7° from the Sun tonight, much too close to see the comet. By the last week of the month Machholz will have faded to about 7th magnitude but will then be some 20° or more from the Sun, so it should be visible low in the western evening sky as it moves through Leo Minor, Leo, and Coma Berenices, from about July 22 through the end of August. For a complete ephemeris of the comet, see:
http://scully.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bi...gi?d=c&o=0096P
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Here's the SOHO website for Sungrazing Comets.
See the first article for July there- apparently this comet had babies.
So here's hoping we get to see something!