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The Great Christmas Comet of 2011, 2011 W3 (Lovejoy)
Guest_Sunspot_*
post Dec 2 2011, 09:59 PM
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http://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/index.php?p=.../birthday_comet

Possible very bright sungrazing comet coming mid December - Comet Lovejoy C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)

Information in the link above.
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Guest_Sunspot_*
post Dec 14 2011, 09:22 AM
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Here it comes

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov//data/REPRO...0830_c3_512.jpg
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titanicrivers
post Dec 15 2011, 04:14 AM
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And check out the SOHO Movie Theater! Choose LASCO C3 and the latest 20 or so images.
http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater
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Mongo
post Dec 15 2011, 07:59 PM
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Spaceweather

COMET LOVEJOY UPDATE: Matthew Knight of the Lowell Observatory and JHU-APL reports: "As of 16:30 UT on Dec. 15th, Comet Lovejoy has reached magnitude -3, possibly brighter. It is starting to saturate SOHO images even with narrow filters and shorter than normal exposure times." The comet is now brighter than Jupiter, but not quite as bright as Venus. If these developments continue apace, Comet Lovejoy could become visible to the naked eye in broad daylight before the end of Dec. 15th.
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stevesliva
post Dec 15 2011, 08:05 PM
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QUOTE (Mongo @ Dec 15 2011, 03:59 PM) *
If these developments continue apace, Comet Lovejoy could become visible to the naked eye in broad daylight before the end of Dec. 15th.


NFW. I'll have to squint through some clouds.
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Mongo
post Dec 15 2011, 08:31 PM
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Same here. Right now it's overcast from horizon to horizon where I am. mad.gif
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Juramike
post Dec 16 2011, 02:06 AM
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It lives!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=LBJ2mkI1rSc


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Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Mongo
post Dec 16 2011, 03:52 AM
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Here is another video:

http://sdoisgo.blogspot.com/2011/12/phoeni...et-emerges.html

I should add that the comet may look faint in these videos, but the cameras are optimized to stare at the surface of the sun. The fact that the comet is visible at all indicates its tremendous brightness.
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Explorer1
post Dec 16 2011, 08:09 AM
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That's one tough cookie....
Any estimate for how close it got (in terms of solar radii)?
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jamescanvin
post Dec 16 2011, 08:31 AM
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140,000 km (1.2 solar radii) above the surface


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Guest_Sunspot_*
post Dec 16 2011, 09:48 AM
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Seems to have left it's tail behind. ohmy.gif

http://lasco-www.nrl.navy.mil/javagif/gifs...216_0930_c3.gif
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Mongo
post Dec 16 2011, 02:45 PM
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QUOTE (jamescanvin @ Dec 16 2011, 08:31 AM) *
140,000 km (1.2 solar radii) above the surface


Actually, the radius of the Sun is 695,500 km, so Comet Lovejoy approached to 0.2 solar radii above the photosphere.
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Toma B
post Dec 16 2011, 04:08 PM
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QUOTE (Sunspot @ Dec 16 2011, 11:48 AM) *
Seems to have left it's tail behind. ohmy.gif


That tail was so OUT it's growing itself new HOT tail. rolleyes.gif

http://lasco-www.nrl.navy.mil/javagif/gifs...216_1530_c3.gif


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Mongo
post Dec 16 2011, 10:12 PM
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It is still very soon, but it appears that Comet Lovejoy is actually brighter than it was at the same distance from the Sun on the way in, and continues to brighten. (This is not a total surprise -- historically, close sun-grazers have tended to be more spectacular after perihelion than before, provided they survive it.) It could end up being a brilliant comet in the southern hemisphere in the coming days, once it moves a bit further from the Sun's glare.

Quicktime movie

(The nucleus's brightness can be very crudely estimated from the size of the white oversaturation bars extending from the nucleus. They are already longer than any seen by this camera on the inbound trajectory.)
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Guest_Sunspot_*
post Dec 16 2011, 10:47 PM
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The Ion tail has reappeared too.
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