🚀 go-pugleaf

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> Comet Discovery
> 
> The comet was discovered on January 30th, 1996 by Yuji Hyakutake
> (pronounced "yah-koo-tah-kay", with equal emphasis on all four
> syllables), who is an amateur astronomer from southern Japan.  At that
> time the comet was 170 million miles from Earth.  Hyakutake perhaps
> made a previous visit to the inner solar system some 10,000-20,000
> years ago.
> 
> Backyard Observing Tips
> 
> During the last week of March, comet Hyakutake will be easily visible
> as it passes near the Big Dipper.  The comet should remain bright
> through at least mid-April.  The best way to view the comet will be
> with binoculars, though it should be visible to the naked eye on a dark
> clear night.  On March 27th the comet passes very close to the North
> Star, Polaris and so is visible all night long from the U.S., Canada,
> Europe, and Japan through the last week in March.  Before March 23rd,
> the comet can only be observed after about 10 pm.  After March 25th the
> comet should be visible shortly after sunset.
> 
> What is a Comet?
> 
> Comets are denizens from the uncharted depths of space beyond Pluto.
> Icy remnants of the early solar system, comets follow a very elliptical
> orbit around the Sun that usually carries them beyond the outer
> planets.  The heart of a comet is the solid "nucleus", which is
> typically a few miles across and consists of ices, dust and rock.  For
> most of its existence a comet nucleus is in a frozen, quiescent state.
> This changes dramatically as it makes its death-defying plunge toward
> the Sun. The Sun's radiation warms the nucleus, causing the ices to
> turn directly from a solid to a gas (sublimate) and escape the surface
> of the nucleus.  This venting creates both the coma (or atmosphere)
> surrounding the nucleus that extends from thousands to millions of
> miles, and also the tail of material that generally streams out in the
> opposite direction from the Sun.
> 

See

http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/press-releases/hyakutake.txt

for additional info.



                                        Bob
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