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FEATURES JANUARY 2023

VOL. 51, NO. 1
14 36
THE WORLD OF The science of comets Great comets of our time
These mysterious iceballs Take a trip down memory lane
COMETS are key to understanding to revisit the most spectacular
our solar system’s history. comets of the past half-
WALTER HARRIS century. MICHAEL E. BAKICH
6
The world of comets
A noted comet discoverer 22 44
reflects on comets and the How to observe comets Catching comets
meaning of life. DAVID H. LEVY
Whether viewed through on camera
binoculars or a telescope or These fleeting beacons
with your naked eyes, tracking from the outer solar system
8 down these celestial visitors is make for fantastic shots.
Unlocking the a rewarding challenge. DAMIAN A. PEACH ON THE COVER
mystery of comets STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA The tails of Comet Hale-Bopp are
Today, comets are a sight to
behold, but for most of history
50 a stunning sight in this image
from March 27, 1997. GERALD RHEMANN
they were seen as harbingers A gallery of great comets
Specters of comets have filled
of doom. RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
the night sky across the
eons. Here are some of the IN EVERY ISSUE
recent best. MARK ZASTROW
From the Editor 4
Astro Letters 5
Sky This Month 28
Long winter nights.
MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND

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 FROM THE EDITOR

We celebrate
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EDITORIAL
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50 years!
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ART
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4 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 The

of

Comet Hale-Bopp wowed

viewers in 1996 and 1997,
putting on the best showing of
a bright comet in the Northern
Hemisphere sky since Comet
West in 1976. ALAN DYER
A noted comet discoverer reflects on comets
and the meaning of life. BY DAVID H. LEVY
LITTLE MEANS MORE to me than next comet will behave and what it will
THE WORLD OF comets. While in the sixth grade at Roslyn do until it happens. My first comet in
1984 passed so close to NGC 6709 that
COMETS School in Montreal, I delivered the first this field is forever engraved in my
of more than 2,500 lectures I’ve given in memory. Last month, another comet,
my life. The subject I chose for this first talk was comets, and it’s named C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS), hap-
amazing to me to compare what we knew about comets then with pened also to travel in front of that
lovely patch of sky. As I went outside and
what we know now. For example, all those years ago, we knew of saw it, the years melted away and it was
a few hundred comets; now we know of at least 4,000. 1984 once again. On that same night, I
also felt that I stood beside the English
The most famous of all comets, Jupiter. This comet was not famous for poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley
Halley’s Comet, last rounded the Sun what it was; it was famous for what it Hopkins (1844–1889) as he replaced tele-
on Feb. 9, 1986. Twenty-one years before did. In its violent and deadly collision scope with pen and wrote:
that, on Dec. 17, 1965, I began searching with Jupiter, it taught us how ancient
telescopically for comets. On Nov. 13, collisions of comets with primordial “I am like a slip of comet,
1984, I discovered my first. I’ll never Earth brought particles of carbon, Scarce worth discovery, in some
forget my view of a brand-new comet hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen corner seen
that no one else had seen, lying close to (together called CHON) to our world. Bridging the slender difference of two
the open cluster NGC 6709 in Aquila. From these tiny, elementary CHON stars . . .
It struck me that the comet seemed to particles eventually came amino acids But when she sights the Sun she
be wrapping its wavy tail around me and proteins, then RNA and ultimately grows and sizes
and my telescope. That night, I felt a DNA. As one scientist suggested, a And spins her skirts out, while her
spiritual connection to the cosmos. comet’s CHON particles represent the central star
Since then, I have encountered more simple alphabet of life. Shakes its cocooning mists; and so
than 200 comets, 23 of which I discov- Something that enthralls me about she comes
ered. The world of comets, I have comets is that they are not just comets. To fields of light; millions of
learned, moves far more slowly than our Early in the formation of the solar travelling rays
fast-paced human world, with its news system, as they collided with each other Pierce her; she hangs upon the flame-
cycles changing every second. In their and with slowly building protoplan- cased sun
leisurely romps across the solar system, etary bodies, they became part of the And sucks the light as full as Gideon’s
comets take their time as they teach us structure of planets themselves. Even fleece
about the greater realm of space and now, as they cruise across the solar But then, her tether calls her; she
time, of which we are a unique part. system, they release many specks of fades off,
Two comets are my particular dust that continue to orbit the Sun And as she dwindles sheds her smock
favorites. My first discovery, Comet as meteoroids. Occasionally, if we are of gold.”
Levy-Rudenko, is one of them. The lucky, we can see some hit Earth’s
other is Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, upper atmosphere and vanish as falling Comets are not just for astronomers
which Carolyn and Gene Shoemaker stars. In 1995, one comet, called to relish through their advanced instru-
and I discovered on images we took on Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, broke ments. Comets are for all of us to enjoy
March 23, 1993. This comet did not look apart dramatically. It brightened sud- through telescopes, through binoculars,
like much; when I arrived home after denly and released a huge amount and simply just with our eyes. With
that week-long observing session at of dust into space. On the night of their tails they brighten our lives and
Palomar Mountain Observatory, I could May 30, 2022, Earth plowed through a with their magic they enchant our
see it only as a faint patch of fuzz that small portion of this dust. Observers souls.
resembled the mark of a pencil erasure. did not see thousands of shooting stars,
But just as my first new comet had but we did view a number of meteors David H. Levy is well known as a comet
wrapped its tail around me, from March that night, many caught by my camera. discoverer, having found 23 comets.
1993 to July 16, 1994, Comet Shoemaker- Comets are like cats. They both have Among them is his codiscovery of Comet
Levy 9 wrapped itself around all three of tails and they both do precisely what Shoemaker-Levy 9, which impacted Jupiter
us, taking us along its final orbit about they want. We never can tell how the in 1994.
 THE WORLD OF
Today, comets are a sight to behold, but for most
COMETS of history they were seen as harbingers of doom.
BY RAYMOND SHUBINSKI

“OF ALL THE HEAVENLY BODIES, comets are This was never more apparent in moder-
nity than in 1910. Comet 1P/Halley, better
assuredly those whose appearance strikes most forcibly the known as Halley’s Comet, had last been visible
attention of mortals,” wrote French astronomer Camille in 1836 and would grace the heavens again
Flammarion in his book Popular Astronomy (1894). And, that spring. The comet’s return was highly
anticipated, so imagine everyone’s surprise
for as long as humans have looked toward the sky, it’s been when a brilliant comet unexpectedly appeared
true. Comets have both terrified and amazed us. months earlier.

8 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 ABOVE: When Halley’s
The object that would become known as both the presence of cyanogen in its tail. With Earth Comet returned to
Earth’s skies in 1910, it
the Great January Comet of 1910 and the Daylight predicted to pass through it on May 18/19, was once again viewed
Comet was first seen Jan. 12 in the Southern Flammarion warned in The San Francisco Call with superstition and
Hemisphere. It’s unclear who precisely discovered it, Feb. 8, 1910, that the gas could “impregnate the dread. PROFESSOR EDWARD
EMERSON BARNARD AT YERKES
but some newspapers at the time pointed to observ- atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the OBSERVATORY, IN WILLIAMS BAY,
WISCONSIN
ers in South Africa. On Jan. 17, the comet reached planet.” The misinformation ran counter to the
perihelion — its closest approach to the Sun — and scientific consensus that any danger would be INSET: It has been
could be seen in broad daylight, outshining Venus eliminated when the cyanogen decomposed in speculated that the
Christmas star in Giotto
at its brightest. As it moved away from the Sun, it the upper atmosphere. di Bondone’s The
became visible in the Northern Hemisphere shortly By early April 1910, when Halley’s Comet Adoration of the Magi
(1320) was inspired
after sunset. By February, a 50°-long tail swept away became visible once more, a full-blown media by his experience of
from the comet’s head. extravaganza surrounded its return. At this point, Halley’s Comet in 1301.
JOHN STEWART KENNEDY FUND, 1911
Confusion caused many to mistake the apparition some thought Halley would collide with Earth,
for the more famous Halley’s Comet, which was see- despite astronomers’ assurances to the contrary.
ing increased media attention after scientists detected As panic ensued, charlatans hawked comet pills as

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 9
William Turner’s
Donati’s Comet was
protection against the deadly gas, while others upper atmosphere. Astronomers ultimately rejected
inspired by the comet flocked to churches, bought gas masks, and tried Aristotle’s explanation, but his views held sway in
appearing over Oxford to seal up their homes to keep out the cyanogen. Western philosophy for more than 1,500 years.
Oct. 5, 1858. YALE CENTER
FOR BRITISH ART, PAUL MELLON Despite the efforts of astronomers and scientists, Westerners weren’t alone in these beliefs, either.
COLLECTION humanity’s latent fear of these celestial visitors had Chinese astronomers called comets “bushy stars”
resurfaced. ( ; bèi xīng) if they had no tail, or “broom stars”
( ; huìxīng) if they had one. Ancient
Ruining perfection Chinese records of comet observations
Many ancient cultures saw comets as were the most extensive and accurate
harbingers of doom and disaster. The predictable of both the ancient and medieval
The predictable motions of the motions of the skies periods. Yet they too saw these visi-
planets, the Sun, and the Moon, were reassuring in a tors as disastrous omens.
as well as the seasonally changing chaotic world. A comet’s Eventually, a Danish nobleman
constellations, were reassuring in sudden appearance would defy superstition and over-
a chaotic world. A comet’s sudden shattered this throw Aristotle’s lingering ideas.
appearance shattered this order. order. And this end was heralded by a bang.
Aristotle described Earth and the In November 1572, a “new” star —
sky as fundamentally different spheres. today we know that star was a supernova
The terrestrial sphere was ever-changing and — appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia. The
corruptible. Beyond lay the realm of perfection young Tycho Brahe was one of the first to make
where the Sun, the Moon, and planets rotated on detailed measurements of this event. Brahe could
incorruptible crystalline spheres. It seemed incon- not detect any parallax for the star, which would
ceivable that a random disruption could pass have been measurable if the object was atmospheric.
through this realm of perfection. So, to explain this Brahe’s conclusion was simple: The new star was in
corruption, Aristotle suggested that comets were heaven itself, within the so-called eighth sphere, the
vapors that rose from Earth and ignited in the realm of immutability. To those who doubted his

10 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 LEFT: Early European
literature is filled with
illustrations showing
comets as vapors and
spirits, burning swords,
dragons, and balls of
fire suspended in the
sky. AUGSBURG BOOK OF
MIRACLES/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

RIGHT: Although the

first photo of a comet
has been lost to time,
the second is not. This
plate, taken by George
Phillips Bond Sept. 28,
1858, shows a fuzzy
smudge that is Comet
Donati. MODERN ENLARGED
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT OF GEORGE
PHILLIPS BOND’S PLATE III,
SEPTEMBER 28, 1858, DONATI’S COMET,
HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY,
PHOTOGRAPHIC GLASS PLATE
COLLECTION

findings, he said, “O coecos coeli spectatores,” which

roughly translates to “O blind spectators of heaven.” SIGNS AND OMENS
Five years later, Brahe tested his theory on a
newly visible comet. He was now equipped with a
private observatory filled with instruments of his
own design. Telescopes were still decades away, but
he could measure the comet’s course and position
with great accuracy. As with the new star of 1572,
he found no parallax, placing the comet among the
realm of planets. His findings were not accepted by
many of his contemporaries, including Johannes
Kepler and later Galileo Galilei. Even Brahe himself
could not completely shake off the bonds of astrol-
ogy, making predictions about the comet’s influence
on Earth. Nevertheless, Aristotle’s crystalline
spheres were soon abandoned.
By the mid-17th century, the Age of Enlightenment
was in full bloom. Brahe’s observational work on
comets and Kepler’s laws of planetary motion pro- Sightings of Halley’s Comet go back to 240 B.C. However, the first illustration of the
comet wasn’t made until A.D. 1066 in the Bayeux Tapestry. BAYEUX TAPESTRY 11TH CENTURY
vided novel tools for a new generation of astrono- ©BAYEUX MUSEUM
mers. Among them was a young man named
Edmond Halley. COMETS WERE VIEWED as disruptors of a perfect cosmic routine. As Carl
Sagan said, a comet’s appearance was “assured of some tragedy for which it
The most famous comet can be held accountable.” Halley’s Comet made an easy scapegoat over the
centuries, each time it returned to the sky.
Halley’s interest in the cosmos began early in life.
1066 The cosmic visitor was viewed as a bad omen for the Anglo-Saxons’
When he went to study at the Queen’s College of the kingdom, then ruled by Harold II. A month after William of Normandy invaded,
University of Oxford, he took a large telescope with the king died at the Battle of Hastings. The Bayeux Tapestry, which recorded
him and, as an undergraduate, wrote a handful of the conquest, depicts the first-known illustration of Halley’s Comet.
papers. In 1676, at the age of 20, he left school and 1301 Halley’s Comet once again graced the heavens. A few years later,
Italian artist Giotto di Bondone painted The Adoration of the Magi. Art
sailed for the island of St. Helena in the Southern
historians believe this was Comet Halley as Giotto remembered it — a rare
Hemisphere. He spent a year mapping the southern example of Halley’s comet being viewed as a blessing.
sky before publishing his star catalog in 1678. Two 1456 The last vestige of the Roman Empire vanished when the Ottomans
years later, he embarked on a grand tour of Europe, captured Constantinople in 1453. Europe was awaiting a full-scale invasion
visiting observatories and meeting with scientists. from the Turkish army when Comet Halley reappeared in 1456, fueling panic
and despair. By some reports, Pope Calixtus III ordered church bells to be
While on his tour, Halley saw the Great Comet
rung every day at noon for intercession against the comet’s influence. — R.S.
of 1680 from Paris. It was discovered by the German
astronomer Gottfried Kirch and was the first comet

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 11
 ever found with a telescope. Halley watched the to wait long for a breakthrough. Just two years later,
comet brighten into daylight visibility and later after prodding from Halley, Isaac Newton began
develop a tail that stretched some 70°. The Italian work on the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was Mathematica, in which he dedicated considerable
working at the Paris Observatory, told Halley that discussion to comets.
he thought comets like this orbited the Sun with When Halley worked on cometary orbits in
predictable accuracy. 1685, it was with the Principia at his side. He noted
The Great Comet of In 1682, yet another comet appeared in the sky. the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682 had similar
1680 was the muse Halley and many others, including Isaac Newton, orbits. He boldly postulated that they were one and
for Lieve Verschuier’s
Tail Star (Comet) over observed this comet closely. Halley kept detailed the same, and predicted this comet would reappear
Rotterdam (1680). positional records. At the time, there was still con- at the end of December 1758 — which it did.
MUSEUM ROTTERDAM (PURCHASE
WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE siderable debate about the nature of cometary Unfortunately, Halley did not live to see its return,
REMBRANDT ASSOCIATION) motion and orbits, but astronomers didn’t have as he passed away in 1742. But his legacy was
cemented at a meeting of the Paris Academy of
Sciences in 1759, when astronomer Nicolas-Louis
de Lacaille first referred to the body as the name
we know it by today: Halley’s Comet.

Unraveling the truth

While some have clearly risen to ready recognition,
these otherworldly bodies remained a mystery well
into the 19th and 20th century. A bumper crop of
comets from 1811 to 1882 allowed astronomers to
utilize an arsenal of new equipment and technol-
ogy, with a clue to cometary structure coming in
1826, when astronomers observed Comet Biela
(called Gambart’s Comet) with improved tele-
scopes. Calculations showed it was a short-period
comet returning about every seven years. But when
it was seen again in 1846, the nucleus had split into
two separate objects! This gave the first indica-
tion that comets were not solid, but instead fragile
objects that could be torn apart.
And as telescope equipment improved, so
did photography. In 1840, John W. Draper, an
American scientist, captured the first clear image of
the Moon. (Though some sources point to French

COMETS GALORE
THE 19TH CENTURY proved a fruitful time for comet hunters, with
spectacular shows occurring every few decades.
1811 The Great Comet was visible to the unaided eye for nine months.
This was a record that would only be broken by Comet Hale-Bopp when
it graced the skies in 1996 and 1997.
1843 In March, a sungrazing comet blazed in the night sky. Also known
as the Great March Comet, it inspired wonder worldwide. It was
described by the British astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth as appearing
to the naked eye to have “a double tail about 25° in length.”
1858 Giovanni Battista Donati first spotted his namesake comet in early
June. It was well placed in the sky for Northern Hemisphere observers.
By August, it was visible without optical aid and sported a bright,
curving tail.
1882 The Great September Comet dazzled viewers in the Southern
Hemisphere. Yet another sungrazing comet, it was first seen Sept. 1,
becoming a daylight comet by midmonth. At the comet’s Sept. 17
perihelion pass, it may have reached between magnitude –15 to –20, The Great Comet of 1882, as photographed by amateur photographer
making it up to a thousand times brighter than the Full Moon! — R.S. William Simpson in Aberdeen, South Africa. SAAO; SIMPSON

12 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

photographer Louis Daguerre as the first to capture made of loosely packed ice — a so-called icy con- While observing and
photographing comets
Luna, his success is contested, and the fire that glomerate — protected by a thick layer of dust, with Edward Emerson
destroyed his lab in 1839 makes it impossible to dirt, and rock. This model provided an explana- at Yerkes Observatory,
astronomer Daniel
prove.) French physicists Léon Foucault and Louis tion for the dust and gas in a comet’s tails, as well Morehouse caught this
Fizeau photographed the Sun in amazing detail in as explaining why the predicted return of a comet visitor near Cassiopeia.
His observations led
1845 and Draper, along with American astronomer could be off by a few days. And, in 1986, when the him to speculate that
William C. Bond, imaged the star Vega in 1850. All European Space Agency’s Giotto mission to comet tails were
of the images were taken on a daguerreotype. Halley’s Comet returned images of the comet’s affected by solar
weather. “COMET 1908C
Cometary scientists tried to capture their targets as nucleus, they showed Whipple’s model was funda- (MOREHOUSE),” GALLERY, ACCESSED

well, but hazy comas and diaphanous tails proved mentally correct. AUGUST 16, 2022, HTTP://GALLERY.
LIBRARY.VANDERBILT.EDU/ITEMS/
a challenge. They persevered, however, and finally Around the same time that Whipple proposed SHOW/984

William Usherwood photographed Comet Donati his model of the comet’s nucleus, the Dutch astron-
in 1858. Unfortunately, the image has not survived. omer Jan Oort was carefully analyzing the orbits of
And astronomers didn’t have to wait long for long-period comets. He found that many comets
another powerful new tool: the astronomical spec- seem to originate about 20,000 astronomical units
troscope. This instrument could reveal the elements (AU; where 1 AU is the average Earth-Sun distance)
present in stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets. from our star. This spherical region has become
Giovanni Battista Donati used a spectroscope in known as the Oort Cloud, and it expanded the
1864 to study Comet Tempel (C/1864 N1). His work bounds of our solar system.
showed emission from diatomic carbon in the com- With more than 3,500 comets recognized by
et’s spectrum, which ultimately revealed its composi- NASA today, we now comprehend comets in more
tion. As spectroscopy improved, astronomers found detail than we ever thought possible. A better
that the coma of a comet, which surrounds the hid- understanding of these comets has relieved some
den nucleus, contains vast amounts of dust that is of the fear and superstition that accompanies
pushed away by the radiant pressure of sunlight. these celestial visitors as they pass through our
Cometary tails are made of this dust, which reflects night sky. But by no means have they lost their
sunlight, as well as gases that glow from ionization. wonder.
Yet what lay within the dusty veil of the coma
remained a mystery. It wasn’t until 1950 that Raymond Shubinski is a long-time contributing
Harvard University astronomer Fred Whipple pro- editor to Astronomy magazine. He has been observing
posed the “dirty snowball” model for a comet’s comets since he was a kid and is eagerly waiting for
nucleus. He suggested that the core of a comet was the next bright comet to appear.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 13
These mysterious
iceballs are key to
understanding our
solar system’s history.
BY WALTER HARRIS
 LAST YEAR, 2022, MARKED
THE WORLD OF
30 YEARS since the first discovery
COMETS of a member of the Kuiper Belt
beyond Pluto, 1992 QB1, by
astronomers David Jewitt and Jane Luu. The presence of
this small world, roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) across,
wasn’t entirely unexpected; the Irish astronomer Kenneth
Edgeworth had suggested a population of such objects could
exist beyond Neptune nearly 50 years earlier. Nevertheless,
it was an impressive feat of perseverance and technical skill.
It also marked a turning point in objects (KBOs), along with hun-
the study of comets. The last three dreds of Centaurs — cometary
decades have brought a torrent of bodies occupying unstable orbits
new discoveries that have trans- that ricochet among the giant
formed our understanding of planets. When these objects are
where cometary bodies reside, perturbed and sent sailing into the
how they got there, and how inner solar system, they are heated
they continue to evolve. by the Sun and transformed into
Thanks to an expand- the ethereal apparitions we know
ing network of progres- as comets. Surveys now routinely
sively more powerful discover incoming comets as they
surveys and tele- pass through the outer regions of
scopes, we now have the solar system and monitor how
identified several they evolve as they approach and
thousand Kuiper Belt then depart the inner solar system.

COMPLEX WORLD • LEFT: The comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has cliffs, boulders,

pits, and pock-marks — all on a “dirty snowball” just 2.7 miles (4.3 km) across. ESA/ROSETTA/MPS FOR
OSIRIS TEAM (MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)/JUSTIN COWART; CC BY-SA 4.0

ABOVE: Gas and dust stream away from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in this mosaic created
from four panels taken by Rosetta at a distance of 17 miles (28 km) from the comet. ESA/ROSETTA/
NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 15
 COMET CLASSES

Oort Cloud
2,000–100,000 AU
COMET CRESCENT The last 20 years have also
• Comet 67P/
Churyumov- been a golden age of comet
Gerasimenko releases exploration with spacecraft.
streams of gas and Since Deep Space 1’s flyby of
dust into space in
this false-color 19P/Borrelly in 2001, we have
image taken by had close encounters with six
ESA’s Rosetta
spacecraft. ESA, ROSETTA, cometary bodies. They include
NAVCAM; PROCESSING BY NASA’s Deep Impact mission,
GIUSEPPE CONZO; CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
which struck the surface of
Tempel 1 (9P/Tempel) with
an 816-pound (370 kilograms)
impactor; the European Space 1P/Halley
Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta space-
craft, which spent two years
exploring 67P/Churyumov- C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)
Long-period comet
Gerasimenko; and NASA’s
New Horizons mission, which,
after passing by Pluto in 2015,
buzzed the KBO Arrokoth in
2019. These encounters have Inner Oor t Cloud
revealed icy planetesimals to be
astonishingly complex worlds
that vary in shape, geology, and 1 AU = average Earth-Sun distance
activity, with no two objects
Saturn
fully alike. Jupiter
These advances have been Sun
reinforced by tools that can
identify more complex gases
in comae — the fuzzy atmo-
Neptune Uranus
spheres that surround comets
Kuiper Belt 1P/Halley
as gases vent and evaporate. Short-period comet
30-50 AU
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

And since 2011, the Atacama

Large Millimeter/submillimeter C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)
Array in Chile has been imaging
planet-forming disks around
other stars, providing additional
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM HAS two reservoirs that produce different classes of
context to the histories of these comets. Short-period comets — those that orbit the Sun in less than 200 years
small icy bodies. — come from the scattered disk, which consists of objects that circulate
among the Kuiper Belt but in orbits that are more elliptical and tilted than
typical Kuiper Belt objects. Long-period comets are thought to come from the
Oort Cloud, which extends upward of 1 light-year in all directions from the Sun.
16 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023
 It may seem that with all gravitationally attracted to each
we’ve learned since the discovery other and coalesce.
of QB1, the most important The second is radial drift,
questions about comets have which occurs as forming par-
been answered. And yet, many ticles grow to meters in diam-
of the key properties of comets eter. At this point, drag causes
remain a mystery. As primordial them to slowly drift inward
leftovers from the formation of toward the Sun, attaching to
our planetary system, they also other small bodies as they go.
happen to be the best available Both of these mechanisms
avenue for exploring its origins. can form rubble-pile comet
With that in mind, here are just nuclei with the properties we
a few of the questions that have observe, including low overall
yet to be answered. densities and constituent par-
ticles that have virtually no
What are comet bond between them. However,
interiors like? the properties of the compo-
The first modern description of nents depend on assumptions
a comet nucleus was suggested about the conditions under
by Fred Whipple in the 1950s. which they formed. Some
In his model, a comet was a models predict a nucleus com-
more or less uniform body that posed of a uniform mix of
he called an “icy conglomerate,” smaller particles of similar
composed of various ices sizes, while others imply
mixed with dust. The a mix of sizes ranging
press dubbed it Spacecraft from 1 to hundreds
the “dirty snow- encounters with of meters in
ball” hypothesis. comets have revealed diameter. Yet
While this could astonishingly complex another model
explain cometary worlds, with no predicts that
activity, it did two objects comet nuclei
not fit our emerg- fully alike. form when
ing understanding higher-velocity
of comets as bodies impactors accumu-
nearly devoid of internal late, compressing one
strength that occasionally disin- another to form a layered inte-
tegrate of their own accord when rior rather than a rubble pile.
merely warmed by the Sun. Unfortunately, it is difficult
In 1986, Paul Weissman pro- to tell the difference between
posed that comets were instead various formation models even
“rubble piles” of loosely bound, when we visit a comet up close.
smaller bodies of various sizes. However, we are occasionally
These pieces of rubble would provided with clues we try
have had to collide at very low to interpret. In 1992, Comet
velocities and been in largely Shoemaker-Levy 9 experienced TOP TO BOTTOM: 9P/Tempel, the spacecraft took
similar orbits to avoid destroy- a close encounter with Jupiter on a second assignment and
ing each other. where tidal forces tore it apart HALLEY • When Comet 1P/ flew by 103P/Hartley, a 1-mile-
Halley returned to the inner solar wide (1.6 km) comet that orbits
Modern models for comet into 21 smaller fragments, system in 1986, it was met by an within the asteroid belt. It found
formation are based on one of which famously impacted international fleet of spacecraft jets of carbon dioxide shooting
representing countries including out from the ends of the comet
two ideas. The first is that, when Jupiter two years later. But in the U.S., Japan, and Soviet Union. nucleus, but water vapor coming
the Sun was still forming, insta- between, we were able to watch But it was the European probe off its narrower midsection. NASA/
Giotto that made the most JPL-CALTECH/UMD
bilities developed in the sur- the fragments spread out along daring excursion, buzzing Halley
rounding disk of material. These the comet’s orbit. The sizes of at a distance of under 370 miles 67P • 67P/Churyumov-
(600 km) and taking some of the Gerasimenko vents into space
instabilities could have been the individual fragments varied in this single frame taken by
first-ever close-up pictures of a
caused by a variety of processes, considerably, with estimated comet nucleus. NASA/ESA/GIOTTO Rosetta at a distance of 96 miles
but the end result is pockets of diameters ranging from 330 feet PROJECT (154 km) from the comet.
ESA/ROSETTA/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
high density where collections (100 meters) to 2.5 miles (4 km). HARTLEY 2 • After Deep
of smaller objects become These sizes may have been Impact successfully struck

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 17
 could not recharge its batteries.
Only a single measurement was
made before the lander lost power.
Despite this, we haven’t given
up. Scientists continue to develop
new radar experiments that we
hope to one day fly to another
comet.

Why do comets
outburst?
In 2007, Comet 17P/Holmes
treated observers to an amazing
display when it suddenly bright-
ened by 14 magnitudes (a factor
of nearly 500,000!) in 42 hours
to become a naked-eye object
that slowly faded over the next
several months. This event was an
extreme example of a cometary
outburst, an explosion of activity
releasing huge amounts of dust
and gas from the nucleus.
Large outbursts like these
occur seemingly at random: Some
comets experience major events at
several locations along their orbit,
while others pass by the Sun in
quiescence. This mercurial nature
BULL’S-EYE • evidence of the makeup of the makes it very difficult to study
NASA’s Deep Impact
mission sought a original interior of the comet. outbursts. Of our spacecraft
glimpse of the interior However, it’s also possible they envoys, none has yet been present
of Comet 9P/Tempel by
releasing a high-speed resulted from a different process at the time of a large outburst,
impactor that smashed related to the tidal disruption. although Rosetta and Deep
into its surface July 4,
2005, producing a flash
Subsequent missions to com- Impact both observed multiple
of scattered light (inset). ets Hartley 2 (103P/Hartley) and small outbursts during their
The larger mosaic of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko encounters with Churyumov-
Tempel 1 (above) is
constructed from may have revealed evidence for exposed as the comet evolved, Gerasimenko and Tempel 1
images collected by a different formation process. leading some to suggest they (9P/Tempel), respectively. This
the impactor on its
way to the surface.
The crowded halo of debris sur- were evidence for its formation suggests outbursts may be more
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UMD rounding 103P contained objects via compressive impacts. common than we thought.
as large as 1 foot (30 centimeters) Ultimately, the only defini- Their root causes, however,
in diameter; some researchers tive way to understand a com- remain a mystery. Scientists have
have suggested these are repre- et’s interior is to measure it proposed various mechanisms,
sentative of the small pebbles directly. Short of burrowing in, including large-scale geologic
from which the comet’s nucleus our best method for doing so is events like landslides, subsurface
is assembled. Rosetta found a to map the nucleus using radar. gas pockets exploding to the sur-
similar situation at Churyumov- We actually came very close face, and chemical reactions that
Gerasimenko, where meter-sized to doing this at Churyumov- rapidly unleash stored internal
“goosebump” features stacked Gerasimenko. The orbiting energy. It’s possible that all of
along the walls of eroded pits on Rosetta spacecraft had a these contribute to outburstlike
the surface appear to be exam- detachable lander, Philae, that phenomena in different situa-
ples of the primordial bricks was intended to serve as half of tions, but the release of chemical
making up the comet. Also at a bistatic radar mapping exper- energy may best explain very
Churyumov-Gerasimenko, iment. Unfortunately, that large events like the one from
observers mapped what appeared opportunity was dashed when Holmes, those occurring farthest
to be a succession of layers Philae settled on the surface from the Sun, and outbursts
on the surface that had been in a shadowed region where it where the energy of ejected

18 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

INSIDE COMETS

IN THE RUBBLE-PILE MODEL of comet nuclei, the fragments of the comet are held together by little more than the extremely weak gravity
between them. These fragments may be of disparate sizes (left) or have a similar, characteristic size (center). In these formation models, comet
nuclei can only form through very gentle collisions. Alternatively, small fragments of ice and dust may pelt one another in higher-speed collisions
and flatten themselves upon impact into a series of layers called talps (right). ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

material is substantially greater than –387 degrees Fahrenheit until its water can reorganize
than what solar heating alone (–233 degrees Celsius). At these itself into the crystalline matrix
can provide. temperatures, there isn’t enough of ice we’re familiar with.
The chemical process most energy for water to arrange When this occurs, two things
frequently invoked is the trans- itself into an organized crystal, happen. First, most of the gases
formation of water ice from an so it assumes a disorganized trapped in the amorphous ice are
amorphous to crystalline state. form, inside which it is able to released because the crystalline
Amorphous water ice condensed trap large quantities of gas. The state has less room to contain
onto dust grains in the coldest amorphous state is stable in the them. Second, the transition to
parts of the early solar frigid outer solar system beyond crystalline ice is an exothermic
system, where Neptune, but as a comet process, meaning it releases
temperatures migrates toward energy. The amount depends on
were less the Sun, it the purity of the ice, but it can
begins to be enough to heat the amorphous
warm ice and trigger a cascading wave
of crystallization that produces
an explosive release of gas and
dust. Once the crystallization
wave dies out, the remnant ice is

ROCKY TERRAIN •
This sunlit valley on
67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenko is lined
by jagged cliffs roughly
0.6 mile (1 km) high. ESA/
ROSETTA/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

19
 51 Pegasi b became the first
TWICE AS ICE confirmed planet around
another Sun-like star. We now
know of nearly 4,000 stars with
at least one planet, and several
thousand additional candidate
systems have ongoing follow-up
studies.
These systems display tre-
mendous diversity, with many
planets occupying strange orbits
that were difficult to reconcile
with the conventional wisdom
of the early 1990s for how our
solar system formed. 51 Peg b
was the first example of what we
AMORPHOUS ICE CAN FORM at temperatures below about –215 degrees Fahrenheit (–137 degrees
now call hot Jupiters — planets
Celsius), and has no organization or structure (left). But when it is heated above that temperature the mass of Jupiter or greater
— like when a comet nears the Sun — the molecules can suddenly rearrange themselves into the that hug their stars in orbits
hexagonal structure of crystalline ice (right). This phase transition releases energy and also causes tighter than Mercury’s. Hot
the material to expand, which could help power large comet outbursts. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY Jupiters showed us that planets
can form in one place in their
system but, over time, migrate
stable, and normal comet activity circular orbit just beyond Jupiter to a completely different region.
can occur. and experiences major outbursts The significance of migration
The best way to test hypotheses about seven times a year. to comets was first discussed a
for large-scale outburst activity is decade earlier by Julio Fernández
to be physically present when the How do dynamical and Wing-Huen Ip in a 1984
event occurs. Their random classes of comets paper in the journal Icarus.
nature makes this challenging, differ? They suggested that when com-
but there are some targets where A less obvious milestone in ets are perturbed by the outer
we are likely to be successful — the study of comets came planets and scattered across
like the Centaur 29P/Schwassman- only three years after the the solar system, the resulting
Wachmann, which lies in a nearly discovery of 1992 QB1, when transfer of angular momentum
would cause the giant planets
to shift in their orbits.
In 1993, Renu Malhotra
brought this model to the fore-
front by demonstrating that out-
ward migration of Neptune had
likely perturbed Pluto into its
current orbital resonance with
RESTING PLACE •
Philae was a small the ice giant. Her later work
lander just over 3 feet would correctly predict that
(1 m) wide that
accompanied Rosetta
to 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenko and
touched down Nov. 12,
2014. Unfortunately, it
was unable to recharge
its batteries effectively
and quickly fell out of
regular contact. In the
final month of Rosetta’s
mission, the craft finally
identified where Philae
had come to rest:
wedged deep in a crack
where sunlight couldn’t
reach it. ESA/ROSETTA/MPS FOR
OSIRIS TEAM MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/
INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA; CONTEXT: ESA/
ROSETTA/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

20 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

Neptune was the key to the entire properties of the dust and gas
organization of the Kuiper Belt. they release provide clues about
Its motion and gravitational the turbulent early history of
influence formed a scattered disk the solar system.
of small bodies that were forced For instance, the discovery
outward by migration and clus- of main-belt comets — a
tered KBOs in orbital resonances. dynamical class of nearly dor-
The dynamical class of a mant ice-rich bodies that reside
comet refers to the reservoir from in the asteroid belt — suggested
which it was perturbed into the that Jupiter forced icy bodies
inner solar system. The two into the inner solar system.
40 meters
major groups are the short- This also suggested the opposite
150 feet
period comets (SPCs), with process as well: that Jupiter
orbital periods up to about 200 scattered asteroids out into the
years, and the long-period com- Oort Cloud. In fact, some mod-
ets (LPCs), with periods from a els predict that as much as a few of Jupiter and are thought to be BREAKUP •
TOP: A close encounter
few hundred to several tens of percent of the Oort Cloud may captured KBOs. In 2022, the with Jupiter — and the
thousands of years. The SPCs originally have been aster- planetary science community accompanying tidal
come from the Kuiper oids. This was lent recommended NASA prioritize forces — caused comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9 to
Belt, specifically the credence in 2016 a Centaur-lander mission, and fragment, as captured
scattered popula- Centaurs are the when a team led by concepts to visit 29P/Schwassman- in this Hubble Space
parents of short-period Telescope image. NASA,
tion driven there Karen Meech of Wachmann have been proposed. ESA, AND H. WEAVER AND E. SMITH

by Neptune’s comets and may be our the University of And ESA is developing the (STSCI)

migration. The best opportunity to Hawaii reported Comet Interceptor mission, SKIN DEEP •
LPCs come from answer some of our that C/2014 S3 which will launch toward the ABOVE: Some
the outer regions most basic questions (PanSTARRS) end of this decade and wait for scientists think that
the “goosebumps”
of the Oort Cloud, about comets. was an inactive a pristine long-period comet — texture seen on the
a uniform distribu- object with the orbit perhaps even an interstellar visi- inside wall of this
eroded pit at Comet
tion of small bodies that of an LPC but the com- tor like ‘Oumuamua or Borisov 67P/Churyumov-
stretches from a few thousand position of an asteroid. — to appear. Gerasimenko is
evidence that comets
times the distance between the As these initiatives unfold, are made of pebbles of
Sun and Earth out to more than Coming attractions there are sure to be surprises. a uniform size. ESA/ROSETTA/
a light-year away. Both of these The coming years should be full One of the truisms of solar- MPS FOR OSIRIS TEAM MPS/UPD/
LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
reservoirs are thought to have of cometary advances. system exploration is that close-
been scattered to their modern The pace of discovery of up looks at our neighbors raise as
orbits by the giant planets. KBOs shows no signs of slowing, many questions as they answer,
This is what makes comets and the 8.4-meter Vera C. often upending our conventional
so helpful in understanding the Rubin Observatory in Chile, wisdom. This has certainly been
history of our solar system: The set to start operations in 2024, true of comets — and will likely
characteristics of a comet depend promises to uncover ever smaller be true yet again.
on the conditions within the pri- and more remote objects.
mordial planetary disk where it Spacecraft will also continue Walter Harris is a professor
formed, as well as how they were to venture to comets. NASA’s in the Lunar and Planetary
scattered to their modern loca- Lucy mission, launched in 2021, Laboratory at the University of
tion. When they return toward is en route to the Trojan aster- Arizona. He has been studying
the Sun as comets, the physical oids, which orbit in the vicinity comets for over 25 years.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 21
 Whether viewed through binoculars or a telescope
or with your naked eyes, tracking down these celestial
visitors is a rewarding challenge. BY STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA

LUCKY ARE THOSE who have seen a great naked-eye

THE WORLD OF comet, one with a head and tail so intense that you need
COMETS only look up to see it. It’s a rarity: On average, such a
comet — brighter than magnitude 0 — appears once every
15 years. Fortunately, several fainter comets that are visible through binoculars or
small- to medium-sized telescopes grace the skies each year.

To many, hunting down and head”) and a starlike core (the

monitoring these fuzzy, frozen pseudo-nucleus). A comet’s tail
fragments left over from the can include a dust tail, an ion
formation of our solar system tail, or both.
is one of the most satisfying While brighter comets can
pastimes of our hobby, linking be superb sights to the unaided
us to celestial sights that have eyes or binoculars, most tele-
influenced humanity through- scopic comets appear as breathy
out the ages. And for those glows whose shapes and sizes
wishing to get into the exciting mimic faint star clusters or dim
pursuit of observing comets, face-on galaxies. Yet comets
here’s what you need to know. also possess an almost mystical
allure, shining with a neigh-
Start a comet watch borly light that distant deep-sky
Most serious comet-watchers objects cannot replicate. Like
monitor the brightness and planets, comets primarily shine
extent of a comet’s two main by reflecting sunlight. They
ABOVE: Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) had a features: its head and its tail. also wander across the starry
simple form that readily showed off the
major parts of a comet: head and tail. By studying them, astronomers background sky, changing posi-
NASA, ESA, AND THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA) can gain a better understanding tion slightly night after night.
RIGHT: Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was of how comets shed their dust But comets can also change
a queenly apparition of gentle splendor and release their gas. their appearance on a whim
enjoyed by many. Although some people
spied it with their unaided eyes, it was to
The head is made of a dif- — that’s what makes them
many a binocular wonder. STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA fuse shell of dust and gas (the so exciting to observe! A
coma; Latin for “hair of the comet may suddenly surge

22 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 orbital data, designations, and to the center. DC = 5 means the
names — as well as good links comet is moderately condensed,
for comets and related topics showing a distinct brightening
— is The International Comet toward the center. DC = 9 repre-
Quarterly (ICQ) Comet sents a nearly stellar appearance,
Information Website where almost all the brightness
ABOVE LEFT: Hailed in brightness overnight or fizzle (www.icq.eps.harvard.edu). is concentrated at a central point
as the comet of the
century, C/1973 E1 out in just a few short days. One or within a tiny disk; this is
(Kohoutek) only important aspect of observing Estimating magnitude hardly ever seen.
reached a total visual comets, then, is to estimate the Determining a comet’s bright- While all DC values are
magnitude of 0. In
this December 1973 brightness of the comet’s coma. ness starts with an assessment of somewhat subjective because
shot from Haleakala, Checking recent reports for its apparent size and its degree they depend heavily on the
Hawaii, the comet’s
visible tail stretches the brightness of comets can help of condensation (DC), a mea- brightness of the background
some 10 million miles. you to decide which objects to sure of how tightly concentrated sky, they, in combination with
NASA/FRANK GIOVANE
pursue, as only you know the the light from the coma appears. a comet’s size, will help you
ABOVE RIGHT: In limits of your equipment. While The coma may be anywhere determine which specific
February 1976, Comet recent observations are useful as from a few arcminutes to several method to use when estimating
C/1975 V1 (West) was
4th magnitude when selection guides, do not rely on degrees in apparent size, while the brightness of a comet’s
it unexpectedly flared them when you go out to observe. the DC value varies from 0 to 9. coma. The ICQ recommends
in brightness just
prior to its perihelion
Comets are as predictable as DC = 0 represents a comet the following three methods:
passage, when the uninvited house guests. One key with a uniformly diffuse coma, In-Out (Vsekhsvyatskij-
author and Peter resource for accurate information with no discernible brightening Steavenson-Sidgwick [VSS])
Collins at Harvard
College Observatory regarding news, observations, from the outer edge of the coma method: This approach is best
observed it shining
at magnitude –3
in broad daylight
through a 3-inch
finder scope. J. LINDER/ESO

BOTTOM ROW,
FARTHEST LEFT:
Comet C/2017 K2
(PanSTARRS) moves
against the stars over
the course of four
consecutive June
2022 nights in this
composite image.
The loose open star
cluster IC 4665 in
Ophiuchus is at
upper left; bright
Cebalrai (Beta [β]
Ophiuchi) is at upper
right. STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA

24 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

for diffuse comets that do not Comet tails and how
display a strong central conden- to measure them
sation (i.e., those with low DC Comets have two princi-
values). The observer compares pal types of tails: a dust tail
an in-focus image of the comet (type II) and an ion tail (type I).
to nearby comparison stars that When visible, dust tails are the
have been defocused to appear easiest to observe, as dust effi-
the same size as the comet’s ciently reflects sunlight, which
coma. is primarily how comets shine.
Out-Out (Van Biesbroeck- The dust tail originates from
Bobrovnikoff-Meisel [VBM]) the comet’s head and points
method: This is the easiest away from the Sun, appearing
method to use and is appropriate brightest near the coma before
for naked-eye comets with small gradually fading downwind.
comas (i.e., high DC values). The Dust tails can also dramatically
observer slightly defocuses the curve, especially around the
comet and its comparison stars time of perihelion passage —
by the same amount until they or closest approach to the Sun
appear the same size. — when dust freed from the
ABOVE: Comet 29P/
Modified-Out (Morris- nucleus follows the curved path despite the fact the comet’s head Schwassmann-
O’Meara) method: Best for of the comet’s orbit. and most of its tail were only Wachmann 1 undergoes
an outstanding eruption
moderately condensed comets, Another remarkable feature visible from the Southern in this composite of
the observer uses this of dust tails are striations Hemisphere. shots taken between
method to defocus the called synchrones. Some comets are bright June 16 and July 28,
2013. DAMIAN PEACH
comet’s inner core Though not well enough for the cone cells in our
first, until the Comets can also understood, they eyes to detect their color, which BOTTOM ROW,
change their CENTER LEFT: The
brightness gradi- appear to be due can reveal whether the comet is broad, feathery dust
ent between the appearance on a whim to streams of richer in gas or dust. Yellow tail of C/1995 O1 (Hale-
inner and outer — that’s what makes debris that peri- implies dust, while blue implies Bopp) readily reflected
sunlight, making it
coma appears them so exciting to odically erupt gas. Some comets also display appear more obvious
smooth. That observe! from the comet’s green heads, a result of ultravio- than the weakly glowing
blue-hued ion tail in this
image is then com- nucleus as it let radiation breaking down April 4, 1997, image.
pared multiple times rotates. Forces such diatomic carbon molecules (C2 ), E. KOLMHOFER, H. RAAB; JOHANNES-
KEPLER-OBSERVATORY, LINZ, AUSTRIA
in the same night to stars as gravity, solar wind, causing the head, and only the (CC BY-SA 3.0)
that are defocused to match the and radiation pressure then head, to fluoresce. The tails of
comet’s out-of-focus image. act upon these streams, causing dusty comets usually shine with BOTTOM ROW,
CENTER RIGHT:
Note that in all three methods, the delicate patterns we see. a white or pale-yellow light, like Comets are full of
it’s best to use comparison stars The tail of Comet C/2006 P1 straw under a setting Sun. When surprises. This photo
shows synchrones in
near the comet, or those in the (McNaught) was so resplendent bright dust tails are seen close to C/2006 P1 (McNaught)’s
same part of the sky and prefer- with striations that the farthest the horizon, they can also take dust tail, as seen
projected against the
ably at the same altitude as the tips were visible from parts of on a reddish hue due to dust or zodiacal light from an
comet. the Northern Hemisphere, other contaminants in Earth’s altitude of 7,000 feet at
the Mauna Loa volcano
in Hawaii. STEPHEN JAMES
O’MEARA

BOTTOM ROW,
FARTHEST RIGHT:
The gaseous green
head of Comet C/2020
F3 (NEOWISE) is
followed by a red tail,
whose color is caused
by dust in Earth’s
atmosphere due to the
comet’s low altitude.
STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 25
 atmosphere, making them case with C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake),
appear like bloody swords. which came within 9.3 million
Ion tails, meanwhile, require miles (15 million kilometers) of
greater effort to observe. They Earth, or about 40 times the
consist of electrically charged, Earth-Moon distance. At its clos-
glowing molecules, or ions, that est, Hyakutake’s head swelled to
follow the path of the solar greater than four Full Moon
wind almost exactly. The most diameters, while its tail stretched
common ion, CO+ (carbon more than halfway across the sky
monoxide), absorbs sunlight like a banner of pale light.
and fluoresces at a wavelength Ion tails often display hairlike
of 420 nanometers, so ion tails streamers or braided (ropey)
tend to appear blue. Some flows of gas. These tails can also
observers, especially those with appear frayed, with structures
eyesight particularly sensitive to branching off from the main tail.
RIGHT: Comet C/2021 blue light, can see them clearly. Among the most remarkable phe-
A1 (Leonard)’s tail English astronomer George nomena associated with ion tails,
shows intricate
structure Dec. 27, Alcock was renowned for his however, is a disconnection event.
2021, just days after a observations of comet ion tails. These are triggered either by
disconnection event.
GERALD RHEMANN
Most observers, however, must debris violently ejected from the
work a bit to see them, espe- comet’s surface or by coronal
BELOW LEFT: Gaseous cially when faint. mass ejections from the Sun
Comet C/2020 F8
(SWAN) shines at 5th If an ion tail is present, use slamming into the comet.
magnitude May 3, averted vision and sweep your Disconnection events occur when
2020. The glow in the
left half of the image is telescope back and forth across strong fluctuations in the solar
zodiacal light. Only the the area of the sky behind the wind pinch the magnetic field
comet’s head and a
0.5˚-long tail were
comet’s head in the anti-solar lines in the ion tail together,
dimly visible to the direction. The same method forming a knot that releases a
naked eye, while can be used for naked-eye com- powerful burst of energy strong
binoculars and averted
vision brought out 1˚ ets with a long ion tail — only enough to sever the tail, causing it
of tail. In photos, the in this case, sweep your eyes to drift away. In some bright
tail stretched nearly
10˚. Such differences
back and forth across the sky. comets, knots and the resulting
are common with gas The latter is the same technique disconnection events can be
tails. STEPHEN J. O’MEARA an observer would use to bring observed with unaided eyes.
BELOW RIGHT: Comet out the zodiacal light against Finally, very rarely, comets
C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) the background sky. can display anti-tails (type III)
came so close to Earth
that visual observers If a gaseous comet passes that appear when Earth passes
reported seeing colors close to Earth, it can be an awe- through or close to the plane of
in the tail. COURTESY OF inspiring sight. Such was the a comet’s orbit around the Sun.
WWW.CAPELLA-OBSERVATORY.COM

26 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

When this occurs, we see dust in
the comet’s orbit edge-on, caus-
ing it to appear like a sunward-
pointing tail that lags behind the
comet. Because anti-tails reflect
sunlight, they are not difficult to
see. Look for a long, slender lance
(sometimes surrounded by an
ellipsoidal envelope) or a trian-
gular wedge fanning out from
the comet’s head. What we see
depends on our viewing angle:
The more needlelike the anti-tail,
the closer Earth is to the comet’s
orbital plane.
Whatever tails are visible dur-
ing your next observing session,
you can determine their lengths
and position angles by recording
the positions of the comet’s head
and tail against the background
stars, then plotting them on a
star chart. Next, measure the
length of the tail (usually in arc-
minutes or degrees) from where it generally only a few miles wide, makes the jets stand out more Comet C/2011 L4
(PanSTARRS) displays
comes off the comet’s head to its is much too small and faint to prominently. a magnificent anti-tail
tip. To determine position angle, resolve. The region around the As the nucleus rotates and jets May 26, 2013.
MALLORCASAINT AT ENGLISH
use a protractor to measure the pseudo-nucleus is where much spiral outward, they can form a WIKIPEDIA (CC BY-SA 3.0)

tail’s orientation relative to the of the most dynamic activity series of parabolic hoods (which
center of the coma, with north at occurs. Watch for sudden surges look like bow waves that form at
0°/360°, east at 90°, south at 180°, in brightness, as they may signal the front of a ship). Some of the
and west at 270°. For comets with the breakup of the nucleus, cre- most active comets also produce
broad dust tails, measure the two ating secondary nuclei. Such bold, sunward-facing jets that
endpoints of the tail’s width and surges may also be caused by look more like broad plumes
record the extent; for example, a violent releases of dust-laden ice, than rays or fans. These plumes
dust tail may sweep across the especially as the comet nears the fountain away from the pseudo-
sky from a position angle of 45° Sun. Some comet nuclei flare nucleus in sweeping gestures
to 90°. several times in a matter of days, before curving back into the tail.
which can add a new level of Don’t forget: Comets are
Finer details excitement to your session. unpredictable! Who knows what
Let’s now shift our attention More common transient other surprising features await?
to some of the more dynamic features are jets — high-velocity The only way to find out is to
features comets can display. To geyserlike eruptions emanating keep observing any comets you
observe them, you’ll want to start from the nucleus, which pierce can. One of the greatest pleasures
by surveying the comet’s head the coma from various direc- in comet observing is the thrill of
with your telescope at its highest tions on its Sun-facing side. witnessing the unexpected. As
effective magnification. While Jets are most intense near the American physicist Leonard
50x per inch of aperture is com- pseudo-nucleus and gradually Susskind reminds us, “Unforeseen
fortable, don’t be afraid to push fade away at greater distances. surprises are the rule in science,
the power to 75x to 100x per inch Except for the brightest of not the exception.”
of aperture, especially if you are comets, these features are gen- May the next bright comet
using a high-quality scope under erally of low contrast and dazzle us all.
excellent atmospheric conditions. require both patience and time
When visible, the pseudo- to see. Typically, jets appear Stephen James O’Meara has nearly 50 years of
nucleus lies at the heart of a com- only slightly brighter than the experience observing comets. His first comet sighting was
et’s coma. As the name implies, surrounding coma, so the best of Comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki). He began studying them
the pseudo-nucleus is not the approach is to use high power in earnest at Harvard College Observatory in 1973, starting
comet’s true nucleus, which, at to diffuse the coma, which with Comet C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek).

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 27
SKY THIS MONTH
Visible to the naked eye
Visible with binoculars
Visible with a telescope

THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE AS IT APPEARS IN EARTH’S SKY.

BY MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND ALISTER LING
Mars (the brighter orange object)
remains in Taurus, changing up the usual
appearance of the Bull’s face. ALAN DYER

11" across. Its gibbous phase

slims from 96 percent to 91 per-
cent lit between Jan. 1 and 31.
Saturn descends quickly into
the twilight of January evenings.
Its low altitude affects telescopic
views. Catch it in the first week
of January, when it is more than
20° high in the southwest shortly
after sunset, glowing at magni-
tude 0.8. The rings in twilight are
a wonderful sight and you have
about an hour to observe them
before the altitude really begins

JANUARY 2023 to affect the view. By mid-

January, Saturn is less than 15°
high an hour after sunset and
likely resembles jelly pudding

Long winter nights more than a ringed planet, but

its conjunction with Venus is a
must-see. By Jan. 31, Saturn is 14°
east of the Sun and is quickly lost
after sunset. It reaches conjunc-
Early winter sunsets Jan. 3, Mercury fades to magni- day, a fatter crescent Moon is tion with the Sun next month.
offer nice evening tude 2.2 and is very difficult to less than 7.5° east of Venus. Neptune is a relatively easy
views of the planets, starting spot. It passes through inferior Venus crosses into Aquarius binocular object high in the
with Mercury and Venus. conjunction on the 7th, then on the 24th. Through a tele- southwest once the sky is dark.
Mercury quickly drops away, reappears quickly in the morn- scope, it changes very slightly Located in eastern Aquarius,
only to reappear in the morning ing sky; we will return to it later. this month, growing from 10" to the dim, distant planet shines at
sky before the end of the month. Venus stands 9° high in the
Venus is dazzling in the west southwest 20 minutes after sun-
and later in the month has a set on Jan. 1. It dazzles in azure Coming close
close encounter with Saturn, twilight at magnitude –3.9. The
a stunning sight in small tele- planet’s angular elongation + N
scopes. Mars and Jupiter domi- from the Sun increases from 17°
nate the evening sky and the to 24° during the month — a
Red Planet is occulted by the long, slow climb until it reaches
Moon for observers in the greatest elongation in June.
southern U.S. Uranus and Venus spends most of the Saturn
Neptune wander among fainter month in Capricornus and Venus
stars but are easy targets for bin- slides along the ecliptic to meet E
oculars or small scopes. Saturn Jan. 22, when the two
Let’s begin on the evening are separated by only 21". Check
of Jan. 1. Mercury is the first them out together in the same CAPRIC ORNUS
planet to set, within an hour of field of view in your telescope.
the Sun. Look with binoculars A one-day-old Moon hangs 8°
6° due west of Venus 20 minutes below them; spy this lovely view Deneb Algedi 0.5°
after sunset for magnitude 1.1 within half an hour of sunset, Jan. 22, 7:15 P.M. EST
Mercury to pop into view. At 6° against the darkening sky.
On Jan. 22, Venus and Saturn sit 21" apart. The planets’ sizes are shown here
high, you have about 30 minutes Venus and Saturn set nearly two relative to each other but do not represent their brightness compared to the
before it drops too low. By hours after the Sun. The next background stars. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

28 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 RISING MOON I Good librations
HAVE YOU EVER watched some- This simulated image shows how libration
one roll their head to stretch makes Luna’s face look almost foreign
this month. NASA’S SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION
their neck? You don’t see STUDIO
the back of their head,
OBSERVING but you can view more from now, it will lie much
HIGHLIGHT than just their face. Our closer to the southern limb.
sister Luna performs And check out the west,
VENUS and SATURN are just
21" apart Jan. 22, placing both a similar maneuver, where the large gray oval
in the same field of view. called libration, with a of Grimaldi sits a bit more
27-day period, reveal- than once its own width
ing a total of 9 percent from the edge, while the
more than just her face huge Oceanus Procellarum
to us: We also get a peek extends right to the limb.
at the top, bottom, and Post Full phase, switch
magnitude 7.8 in a region sides. Binoculars are the best over to morning viewing (even
devoid of bright stars. Instead, way to follow this motion, yet it past sunrise) to follow the libration
Jupiter 8° to its east is a useful is noticeable even to the discerning with just a pair of binoculars. Grimaldi
guide. eye. We’ve hit the timing just right this month, rolls away from the limb and each passing day
In the first week of January, as the 29.5-day illumination cycle is in sync with reveals more and more of the white coastline of
Neptune is located between two the roll. Procellarum in the northwest.
7th-magnitude stars. If you’ve January opens with the east (right) edge The next cycle opens with the waxing evening
been following the planet, you prominently displayed, with Mare Crisium as far crescent on the 24th. Find the large patch of Mare
know them. Find the eastern- as it can get from the limb. As we approach Full Humboldtianum in the northeast; to its south-
most pair of a parallelogram of Moon, the north seems to roll away, while down west lies the lovely oval-shaped Endymion. The
four stars each about 1° apart, south, the pure white of the lunar highlands striking pair Atlas and Hercules are further inward
5° northeast of Phi (ϕ) Aquarii. begins to blotch. The dense jumble of craters still. Mare Crisium is a fair distance in, letting the
takes on gray, their bowls containing patches dark patches of Mare Smythii and Marginis high-
Neptune lies close to the north-
of lava that together make up Mare Australe. light the limb. The whole sequence now nearly
ernmost star, passing 6' due
Notice how far up Tycho appears — six months repeats, starting two days earlier.
south of it Jan. 11. By Jan. 20,
Neptune sits 12' due east of the
same star. The gap more than
doubles by the end of January. A
crescent Moon floats within 4°
METEOR WATCH I Catch a few falling stars
of Phi on Jan. 24, with Neptune
some 5° above the Moon. Quadrantid meteor shower THIS ANNUAL WINTER SHOWER
Attempt telescopic views is a regular for observers, but early
early in the month and soon B O ÖT ES January’s Full Moon strongly affects
after dark, when the planet is viewing this year. The Quadrantids,
Radiant
over 30° high. The tiny disk Alphecca named after a defunct constellation
C ORONA in what is now northern Boötes,
spans 2", hard to observe unless DR AC O B OR EA L IS
are active from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12,
conditions are ideal. Lower alti-
peaking late on Jan. 3 in the U.S.
tudes really affect its clarity.
Full Moon occurs on the 6th. Only
Jupiter shines brightly in the
Vega brighter members of the shower,
southwest these winter evenings. Rasalgethi
Rasalhague which normally generates about 40
It starts the month at magnitude LY R A
OPH IU CH U S meteors per hour before dawn, will
–2.4 and slips by only 0.2 mag- be visible. Though this year’s pre-
Deneb
nitude by Jan. 31. It treks east- dicted zenithal hourly rate is 110, with
C YGN U S
ward across the faint stars of the Moon around, you’ll see far fewer.
Pisces the Fish. Watch for the The radiant rises after midnight,
10°
lovely four-day-old crescent offering a steady increase in rate as
Moon to arrive Jan. 25, when dawn approaches. Brace against
the pair stand 3° apart. those cold winter temperatures as
Jupiter’s disk spans 39" you enjoy your morning cuppa out-
QUADRANTID METEORS
on Jan. 1 and shrinks by side and gaze upward. You might
Active dates: Dec. 28–Jan. 12 Jan. 4, 1 hour before sunrise
about 8 percent by Jan. 31. Looking east catch one of the rare bright ones.
Peak: Jan. 3
Start your observing in late Moon at peak: Waxing gibbous The Quadrantids are associated with
twilight, when Jupiter’s Maximum rate at peak: The Quadrantids’ radiant is highest before the periodic comet 96P/Machholz
— Continued on page 34 110 meteors/hour dawn. Its position will be much the same and the minor planet 2003 EH1.
whether you observe on the 3rd or 4th.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 29
 N

STAR DOME c
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HOW TO USE THIS MAP

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This map portrays the sky as seen

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inside the border are the cardinal M
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STAR COLORS
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Lower-temperature stars appear orange
• The coolest stars glow red
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receptors, so they appear white unless you
HOROLOGIUM
use optical aid to gather more light
q
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BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
 JANUARY 2023
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

W
S

N
b U
N
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Y
C
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
b
d e ne
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ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

_
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
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22 23 24 25 26 27 28
TA

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29 30 31

Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.
d
DA
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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DR

1 The Moon passes 0.7° north of Uranus, 5 P.M. EST

PEGASUS

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3 The Moon passes 0.5° south of Mars, 3 P.M. EST

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Quadrantid meteor shower peaks

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4 Earth is at perihelion (91.4 million miles from the Sun), 11 A.M. EST
c

6 Full Moon occurs at 6:08 P.M. EST

7 Mercury is in inferior conjunction, 8 A.M. EST
a

S
ES

ARIU

8 The Moon is at apogee (252,562 miles from Earth), 4:19 A.M. EST
SC

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Asteroid Pallas is at opposition, 2 P.M. EST

AQU

Path of the
S un (ecliptic)
12 Mars is stationary, 3 P.M. EST
r
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14 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 9:10 P.M. EST

Jup

18 Mercury is stationary, 7 A.M. EST

b

Pluto is in conjunction with the Sun, 10 A.M. EST

S 20 The Moon passes 7° south of Mercury, 3 A.M. EST
d

U
ET Jupiter is at perihelion (460 million miles from the Sun), 7 A.M. EST
C
o 21 New Moon occurs at 3:53 P.M. EST
`

3 The Moon is at perigee (221,562 miles from Earth), 3:57 P.M. EST
25
C 22 Venus passes 0.4° south of Saturn, 3 P.M. EST
NG P
SG Uranus is stationary, 10 P.M. EST
_ R
TO 23 The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 2 A.M. EST
LP
CU The Moon passes 3° south of Venus, 3 A.M. EST
SW

S
25 The Moon passes 3° south of Neptune, 1 A.M. EST
The Moon passes 1.8° south of Jupiter, 9 P.M. EST
X
NI
OE 26 Asteroid Hebe is at opposition, 4 A.M. EST
PH
28 First Quarter Moon occurs at 10:19 A.M. EST
The Moon passes 0.9° north of Uranus, 11 P.M. EST
30 Mercury is at greatest western elongation (25°), 1 A.M. EST
The Moon passes 0.1° south of Mars, 11 P.M. EST

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 31
 PATHS OF THE PLANETS
DRA
UMa AUR
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) LYN
CYG HER
LMi The Moon occults
CVn
LYR BOÖ GEM Mars on January 30
CrB
Mars
VUL COM oon
the M tic)
h of (eclip
DEL LEO Pat e Su n
SGE of th
Ceres Path ORI
SER
AQL
E QU Celestial equator Asteroid Hebe
reaches opposition
AQR VIR January 26
MercurySERappears SEX
OPH MON
CAP bright before dawn
in late January LIB CRT Asteroid Pallas
Sun reaches opposition
CRV CMA
January 8
LEP
Pallas callout
HYA PYX
S GR ANT PUP
M IC LUP COL CAE
SCO
TEL VEL

Moon phases Dawn Midnight

22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4

To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.

Uranus

THE PLANETS THE PLANETS IN THE SKY

IN THEIR ORBITS These illustrations show the size, phase,
Arrows show the inner and orientation of each planet and the two
Jupiter
planets’ monthly motions brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
Neptune in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
and dots depict the
outer planets’ positions Saturn
to match the view through a telescope.
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.

Venus Mars
Mercury
Ceres
Earth Pluto
Perihelion Solar conjunction
is January 4 is January 18
Mars

Jupiter PLANETS MERCURY VENUS

Ceres Perihelion is
January 20 Date Jan. 31 Jan. 15
Mercury Venus
Greatest western Magnitude –0.1 –3.9
elongation is
Angular size 6.6" 10.7"
January 29/30
Illumination 64% 94%
Distance (AU) from Earth 1.013 1.563
Distance (AU) from Sun 0.433 0.727
Right ascension (2000.0) 19h07.2m 21h10.1m
Declination (2000.0) –21°40' –17°58'

32 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 JULY 2021
This map unfolds the entire night sky from sunset (at right) until sunrise (at left). Arrows
and colored dots show motions and locations of solar system objects during the month. JANUARY 2023
1

PER
Callisto 2
AND LAC

CYG 3 Callisto
TRI
LYR Europa
ARI 4 Io Ganymede
VUL
PEG
DEL Io
TAU SGE 5
Uranus PSC
EQU
AQL SER 6 Jupiter
Jupiter
Ganymede
Neptune AQR
Jun 7 Europa
o
Ves Saturn S CT
CET t a Venu
s Sun
JUPITER’S 8

Pluto
MOONS
Dots display 9
SCL Venus passes 0.4° CAP
ERI FOR southPsA
of Saturn S GR positions of
on January 22 MIC Galilean satellites 10
at 10 P.M. EST on
PHE G RU the date shown. 11
Early evening South is at the
top to match the 12
view through a
3 2 1 telescope. 13

14
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
15

16

S
Jupiter
17
W E

18
Saturn N

19

10" 20

21

Uranus Neptune Pluto 22

23

24

MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO 25

Jan. 15 Jan. 15 Jan. 15 Jan. 15 Jan. 15 Jan. 15 Jan. 15

26
–0.8 8.1 –2.3 0.8 5.7 7.8 15.1
12.8" 0.6" 37.7" 15.6" 3.7" 2.2" 0.1" 27

95% 97% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100% 28

0.733 2.064 5.225 10.677 19.303 30.413 35.668
29
1.581 2.552 4.951 9.832 19.668 29.912 34.687
4h22.2m 12h40.2m 0h12.3m 21h45.3m 2h49.2m 23h35.5m 20h01.5m 30
24°24' 9°52' –0°01' –14°50' 15°54' –3°56' –22°49'
31
 WHEN TO
SKY THIS MONTH — Continued from page 29 VIEW THE
PLANETS
Quick succession these stars on Jan. 1, a bit closer
to Sigma. The planet drifts EVENING SKY
S slightly west of a line joining Mercury (southwest)
the stars throughout January. Venus (west)
Mars (east)
Uranus gradually slows to a
Jupiter (southwest)
Jupiter stationary point Jan. 22, 1° Saturn (southwest)
W
Io northwest of Sigma Arietis. Uranus (southeast)
The planet is visible all eve- Neptune (southwest)
ning and sets soon after 1 A.M.
Jan. 9, 7:15 P.M. EST Ganymede 30" MIDNIGHT
local time by January’s end.
Mars (west)
The Galilean moons are busy this month. On Jan. 9, Io begins a transit just Through a telescope, its 4"-wide
Uranus (west)
minutes before Ganymede starts to reappear from behind Jupiter. Outside disk appears blue. On Jan. 28/29,
this field of view, Callisto lies east of Jupiter and Europa to the west. look for Uranus close to the gib- MORNING SKY
bous Moon in the late evening. Mercury (southeast)
brilliance is tempered by the Uranus lies in sparse south- Uranus stands only 0.5° due
background sky. The two dark ern Aries, an easy binocular south of the Moon’s southern
equatorial belts straddling the target at magnitude 5.7. Look limb soon after midnight on the
equator first come into view, for a pair of 5th-magnitude 29th for East Coast observers Mars is a spectacular object
with more subtle features fol- stars, Sigma (σ) and Pi (π) (still the 28th in all other U.S. in Taurus, shining at magnitude
lowing with patient observing. Arietis, creating a 2.5°-long time zones). Earlier in the eve- –1.2 on Jan. 1. That night, the
Io undergoes an occultation north-south line. Uranus is a ning, Uranus is southeast of Red Planet is nearly 70° high
the evening of Jan. 1, opening a little less than midway between Luna’s southern limb. around 8:30 P.M. local time.
month of fine events. The moon
disappears behind the western
limb of Jupiter around 7:45 P.M.
EST. The following evening at COMET SEARCH I Sky trip!
the same time, Io has made half
an orbit and its shadow is in the LET’S GET the most from the Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
middle of transiting Jupiter’s bright binocular comet C/2022
face. The shadow leaves just E3 (ZTF) during its speedy two- Polaris
b N
before 8:40 P.M. EST. month flight. Barring a welcome b
r CA ME L OPAR DALI S
West Coast observers can see surprise, ZTF will be the best of ¡
the year. South of the equator,
Callisto partially occulted by c
observers instead get 12 months d 30
Jupiter’s northern limb Jan. 7, e
of the stalwart C/2017 K2 c UR S A
beginning around 8:30 P.M. PST M I NOR l
(PanSTARRS) skirting their pole. M82 k
and lasting nearly an hour. The a `
ZTF brightens rapidly from 9th E DR AC O Path of Comet ZTF
event repeats Jan. 24, this time magnitude into binocular range d M81
for the eastern half of the U.S., while accelerating toward perihe- g
h
starting around 7:10 P.M. EST. e U R SA
lion on the 12th. Despite the Full p
Two events occur Jan. 9, 25 M AJOR
Moon mid-month, try to catch _
when Io starts a transit around _
the 6th-magnitude fuzzball from NGC 5907
7:05 P.M. EST. Ganymede slips M102 `
the suburbs. By the 18th, early B O ÖT ES M108
out from behind Jupiter shortly risers can enjoy ZTF high in the Jan. 5°
20 M101 b M97
after, around 7:09 P.M. EST. The northeast without interference ¡
giant moon takes about five from the waning crescent Moon.
Comet ZTF covers vast swaths of sky each night later this month. Visit our
minutes to fully reappear. Those preferring to stay up until website for finder charts to locate and track the comet in early to
Europa begins a transit on 2 A.M. can observe before the mid-January.
Jan. 19 at about 7:45 P.M. EST. Its Moon rises two nights earlier,
shadow doesn’t appear until just but know the comet might be fighting trees and buildings.
after 10:10 P.M. EST, less than Imagers on the morning of the 22nd will enjoy ZTF’s green glow with M102 and the Splinter Galaxy
10 minutes before Europa itself (NGC 5907) only 3° away. Visual observers, watch the wedge-shaped tail suddenly narrow into a spike on
leaves the opposite side of the the 24th, then quickly spread back out in only 48 hours as Earth punches through ZTF’s orbital plane at
disk. The Royal Astronomical nearly a right angle. Geometry favors us with a short sunward-pointing anti-tail, which could be blue if ZTF
Society of Canada’s 2023 produces enough gas. This climax might last only one night, so be prepared to jump into action.
ZTF is closest to Earth at month’s end, potentially glowing as bright as 5th magnitude not far from
Observer’s Handbook lists other
Polaris. Its rapid motion of 12" per minute forces short exposures to keep details sharp. Dedicated astro-
events throughout the month.
imagers could make a two-week panoramic composite.
34 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023
 LOCATING ASTEROIDS I
Vesta swims past Neptune
MUCH EASIER TO FIND than last month, asteroid 4 Vesta pass-
es the standout broad triplet of ψ1, ψ2, and ψ3 Aquarii. The Greek
Morning Mercury letter psi (ψ) looks nearly the same as Neptune’s planetary symbol
because in Greek, the god’s name is Poseidon. And, by coinci-
dence, the blue ice giant is only some 5° north of Vesta’s path.
H E RCUL ES
We’re a fair distance from the plane of the Milky Way here,
Rasalgethi so the background star fields contain a varied smattering that is
LIBR A
Rasalhague straightforward to navigate. In just an hour at the eyepiece on the
4th, you can watch Vesta separate from a pair of stars straddling
OPHIU C HU S its path. Consider also tracking down nearby 3 Juno, which leaves
the scene early on. And avoid Jan. 25, when the Moon is nearby.
In yet another appulse, Uranus hosts 10th-magnitude
27 Euterpe 1° to its south during the first week of January. A box
Antares
of stars acts as a great reference to reveal the night-to-night shift
AQU I L A
SC ORPI U S of that asteroid.
Altair Moon
M8
S AG IT TA RIU S Sharing a swim
Mercury
10°
N
Jan. 19, 6 A.M.
Neptune
Looking southeast PISCES
q
Catch Mercury near the crescent Moon in the morning sky Jan. 19, with the
Lagoon Nebula (M8) between them, visible with binoculars or a telescope.
30
10 r
25 Path of Vesta
Mars lies about 9° east of the begin observing at least five E 5
s1
Pleiades star cluster (M45) minutes before the occultation Path of Jan. 1 20 s2
Juno
and 8.5° north-northwest of is set to start. C ET US 15 s3
AQUA RI U S
Aldebaran. The planet slows to Through a telescope, Mars is
10
a halt Jan. 12, ending its retro- well past its best. On Jan. 1, it 5
grade motion and resuming an spans 15" and is 97 percent lit,
Jan. 1
easterly trek, reaching 10° east large enough for moderate tele-
of M45 by Jan. 31, when Mars scopes to see surface features. By 1°
sets just before 3:30 A.M. the end of January, it shrinks to
Vesta and Juno skim just south and east of Neptune (whose position is
Watch Mars and the waxing 11" wide and surface features shown on the 15th) this month. Jupiter sits slightly northeast of this field.
gibbous Moon close in on each become more challenging. The
other Jan. 30. For northern phase slims to 92 percent. Mars
states, the two lie very close, just also fades to magnitude –0.3.
a few arcminutes between them. At about 9 P.M. Central time, morning of Jan. 17 and stands 5° magnitude –0.1 some 7' north-
From locations south of about the following features are visible high in the southeast 45 minutes east of 4th-magnitude Omicron
37° north latitude, the Moon (for the mid-U.S.): Jan. 1: Sinus before sunrise. (ο) Sagittarii. This is Mercury’s
occults Mars; the time depends Meridiani with Syrtis Major Look for Mercury nearly 15° greatest elongation west, 25°
on your location. From Miami, leaving the disk; Jan. 10: Syrtis left (east) of the waning crescent from the Sun. On the 31st,
Mars is occulted at 12:38 A.M. Major, Hellas, and Elysium; Moon on Jan. 19. The magni- Mercury stands 40.5' due south
EST on Jan. 31 and reappears at Jan. 23: Olympus Mons, Tharsis tude 0.4 planet is only 1° high at of Pi Sagittarii and is 4° high
1:27 A.M. EST. In Dallas, Mars Ridge, and Mare Sirenum; 6:00 A.M. local time; the Moon a full hour before sunrise.
disappears at 11:18 P.M. CST on Jan. 30: Tharsis, Valles is four times higher, so use it Earth reaches perihelion,
Jan. 30 and reappears nearly Marineris, Solis Lacus, and to spot the innermost planet. the closest point to the Sun in
four minutes after local mid- Mare Erythraeum. Features and You’ll need a clear southeastern its orbit, Jan. 4 at 11:17 A.M. EST,
night on the 31st. Los Angeles their positions vary depending horizon. The Lagoon Nebula when we stand 91,402,515 miles
observers see Mars vanish at on the time and your location. (M8) lies roughly midway from our star.
8:36 P.M. PST and reappear at Mercury skips into the between the two; binoculars
9:29 P.M. PST. Mars takes nearly morning sky after its Jan. 7 infe- should net it before the sky Martin Ratcliffe is a
a minute to disappear and reap- rior conjunction and quickly brightens too much. planetarium professional with
pear, so prepare your scope attains visibility by mid-month. By Jan. 25, Mercury reaches Evans & Sutherland and enjoys
30 minutes before the event and It reaches magnitude 0.6 on the magnitude 0 and stands 8.5° observing from Salt Lake City.
high in eastern Sagittarius Alister Ling, who lives in
GET DAILY UPDATES ON YOUR NIGHT SKY AT around 6:45 A.M. local time. Edmonton, Alberta, is a longtime
www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek. On Jan. 30, it glows at watcher of the skies.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 35
Take a trip down memory lane to revisit the Readers familiar with my stories
know that I love lists. So, when asked
most spectacular comets of the past half- to choose the greatest comets in
recent history, I thought, “Oh, what
century. BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH fun that will be!” The big question
was how far back to go. Initially, I
decided to start when Astronomy
GREAT COMETS ARE FIXTURES began, in 1973. After more thought,
THE WORLD OF throughout astronomical history. They however, there were two comets I
simply couldn’t leave off the list. I
COMETS pop up unexpectedly and can change think you’ll agree because the first
the way people see the skies, creating was one of the most spectacular
unforgettable experiences that can inspire and live on in our celestial sights ever seen.
If you’re old enough to have
collective memory. Typically, astronomers denote a comet as “great” observed any of the following com-
if it reaches easy naked-eye visibility. It helps if the comet can be ets’ visits, you’ll remember exactly
seen for a long time, as was the case with Comet Hale-Bopp where you were when they blazed
(C/1995 O1), but even a comet only visible for a few days can be brightest in the sky. So, let’s take a
trip down memory lane — and keep
great if it’s bright enough. The most recent great comet was Comet hope alive that we’ll all be treated to
McNaught (C/2006 P1). another great comet very soon.

36 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 COMET NEOWISE
Comet Ikeya-Seki when it was just 290,000 miles when the Great Comet of 1106 (C/2020 F3) •
(C/1965 S1) (467,000 kilometers) above our (X/1106 C1) broke up into thou- Comet NEOWISE
gracefully arcs though
On Sept. 18, 1965, amateur daytime star’s surface. Ikeya- sands of smaller bodies. twilight in December
astronomer Kaoru Ikeya and Seki was most visible the day of 2020. GERALD RHEMANN
professional astronomer Tsutomu perihelion when, at midday in Comet Bennett COMET IKEYA-SEKI
Seki independently discovered Japan, many observers detected (C/1969 Y1) (C/1965 S1) • Comet
what became the greatest comet it with their naked eyes in broad Comet Bennett, the brightest Ikeya-Seki shows off a
twisted, ropey structure
of the century, Ikeya-Seki. When daylight. At its brightest, the comet seen after Ikeya-Seki, was a in its 30°-long tail in
researchers calculated its orbit, comet reached an astounding magnitude 8.5 object when South this Oct. 30, 1965, shot.
JAMES W. YOUNG (TMO/JPL/NASA)
they found it was a sungrazer — a magnitude –10, meaning that it African amateur astronomer
comet that passes extremely close shone about 10 percent as bright John Caister Bennett discovered COMET BENNETT
to the Sun. Small sungrazers usu- as the Full Moon, or 110 times it Dec. 28, 1969. It reached naked- (C/1969 Y1) • This
two-minute exposure
ally evaporate or are torn apart by brighter than Venus ever gets. eye visibility from dark locations of Comet Bennett was
tidal forces. Large ones, however, Images showed that, just in early February 1970. During taken from Hamburg
Observatory and
can not only survive, but might before perihelion, the comet the first week of March, it sported highlights a visible kink
also become extremely bright. broke into three separate a tail some 10° long. It wasn’t just in the comet’s ion tail.
K. LUBECK/L.F. BURLAGA, J. RAHE, B.D.
Observers hoped Ikeya-Seki pieces. The two main ones will the length of the tail, however, DONN, B. D., & M. NEUGEBAUER
would fall into the latter category. return around 2842 and 3021. that thrilled observers. Bennett’s
They didn’t have long to wait. This event mirrored the initial tail contained a number of fila-
The comet reached perihelion (its formation of the comet, which ments, each of which resembled
closest point to the Sun) Oct. 21, astronomers believe happened an individual comet’s tail.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 37
 E1)
EK ( C/1973
T
KOHOU
COMET

COMET WE
ST (C/1975
V 1)

The comet reached peri-

helion March 20, 1970, when it Johnny Carson
COMET KOHOUTEK approached to within 50 million discussing Kohoutek with boiled away by
(C/1973 E1) • Comet
Kohoutek was the great miles (80.5 million km) of the American astronomer Carl repeated visits near the Sun.
comet that never Sun. Six days later, when Bennett Sagan — but I don’t remember Unfortunately, Kohoutek
delivered. Nonetheless,
the University of
was closest to Earth (64 million the comet itself in a good light. brightened much more slowly
Arizona’s Lunar and miles [103 million km]), it peaked We can think of it more as the than expected and proved a dis-
Planetary Laboratory at magnitude 0. When the comet great comet that never was. appointment to the hundreds of
photographic team
snagged this shot on was at its brightest, observers and Astronomers believed thousands of people who went to
Jan. 11, 1974, using a scientists paid particular attention Kohoutek would be a bright view it. Still, it has one positive
35mm camera. NASA
to the coma, which showed short comet for two reasons. First, note: It was the first comet
COMET WEST features extending from the sun- when it was discovered by observed by astronauts in space.
(C/1975 V1) • Comet ward side of the nucleus. Known Czech astronomer Luboš The crews of both NASA’s Skylab
West reached peak
brightness in March as anti-tails, these components Kohoutek on March 18, 1973, 4 and the Soviet Union’s Soyuz 13
1976, showing off its appear to point toward the Sun it was nearly 442 million miles missions reported seeing it.
fan-shaped tail in this
lovely photograph from as Earth passes through the (711 million km) from the Sun.
that month. P. STÄTTMAYER/ESO comet’s orbital plane, but they’re To be visible from such a dis- Comet West
really just trails of dust left in the tance meant that it must be a (C/1975 V1)
comet’s wake. large body. Danish astronomer Richard M.
The second reason was that West discovered the comet that
Comet Kohoutek when researchers calculated its would bear his name Nov. 5, 1975,
(C/1973 E1) orbit, they realized this was in images taken at the European
Let me be honest: The only reason Kohoutek’s first visit to the Southern Observatory in La Silla,
Comet Kohoutek ranks as “great” inner solar system. Before then, Chile. As this was soon after the
is because the media hyped it it had resided in the Oort Cloud. Comet Kohoutek debacle, most
as the “comet of the century.” I That meant its outer layers were astronomers voiced low expecta-
fondly remember talk-show host still pristine, having never been tions for Comet West, saying it

38 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 ( C / 19 8 3 H 1)
I-A LCOCK
IR AS -AR AK
COME T

COMET HA
LLEY (1P)

probably wouldn’t be an impres- so near to Earth. Indeed,

sive sight when it emerged from at its closest point to Earth, it three celestial
behind the Sun. passed just 2.9 million miles objects: the Moon, the rings
What a nice surprise then, (4.8 million km) from our of Saturn, and Halley’s Comet.
when for three days around planet, making it the closest History’s first identified periodic COMET IRAS-
its perihelion of Feb. 25, 1976, comet since 1770. At this dis- comet, 1P/Halley, returned to the ARAKI-ALCOCK
(C/1983 H1) • This
it reached magnitude –3 and tance, IRAS-Araki-Alcock trav- night sky in 1982 for its most- 15-minute exposure
became visible in broad daylight eled across some 30° of sky per observed appearance on record. shows clearly how
Comet IRAS-Araki-
— the first comet since Ikeya- day. The comet glowed at 2nd And that’s saying something, Alcock didn’t look like
Seki to grow that bright. During magnitude at its brightest. because it’s been observed at a “normal” comet,
thanks to its distinct
the first week of March, its As is tradition with comets, least as far back as 240 B.C. lack of a tail. CHRIS SCHUR
magnitude dropped to 0, but this one is named for its discov- Unfortunately, during that
it sported a tail some 25° long. erers. The first one, however, recent appearance, celestial COMET HALLEY
(1P) • This image,
At perihelion, West passed isn’t a person. It’s the Infrared geometry wasn’t on our side: taken on Kodachrome
18.3 million miles (29.4 million Astronomical Satellite, or IRAS, Perihelion occurred Feb. 9, 1986, 200 slide film and
pushed to 400 during
km) from the Sun. During its which was active for 10 months when Halley was on the opposite development by the
close encounter, tidal forces from in 1983. It imaged the comet side of the Sun from Earth. Still, photographer, shows
our star broke the comet into April 25, 1983. The other two it peaked at magnitude 2.4 in the most recent return
of Halley’s Comet in
four pieces. are people: Japanese amateur early March, putting on a decent March 1986. MIKE BROUSSARD
astronomer Genichi Araki and show for those in the Southern
Comet IRAS-Araki- British astronomer George Hemisphere.
Alcock (C/1983 H1) Alcock, both of whom indepen- The comet is named for
If you were lucky enough to dently discovered it May 3. English astronomer Edmond
lay eyes on this object, you’ll Surprisingly, Alcock found the Halley, but he didn’t discover it.
remember it didn’t look like a comet using binoculars from In 1705, he published a paper in
traditional comet. In fact, Comet inside his home, while looking which he wrote that the comets
IRAS-Araki-Alcock didn’t show through a window. seen in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were
a tail — at its brightest, it looked IRAS-Araki-Alcock is a all the same object. He further
to the naked eye like an unre- long-period comet. It should predicted that this comet would
solved globular cluster. But with return in 2953. return to Earth’s skies in 1758.
a diameter nearly as large as the And although Halley died in
Full Moon, it appeared a lot big- Comet Halley (1P) 1742 before he could see the out-
ger than many globulars. It also I’ve often heard people say that come for himself, his prediction
was moving fast because it was non-astronomers recognize came true when observers

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 39
 COMET SHOE
MAKER-LEVY
9 (D/1993 F2)

995 O1)
E-BOPP (C/1
COMET HAL

COMET SHOEMAKER-
LEVY 9 (D/1993 sighted the comet on Christmas Jupiter during a six-day stretch American amateur astronomer
F2) • In 1994, the night 1758. in July 1994. Each created a Thomas Bopp, observing near
Hubble Space Telescope Comet Halley’s next perihe- fireball — several visible from Stanfield, Arizona, independently
observed the 21 pieces
of Comet Shoemaker- lion will occur July 28, 2061. At Earth — followed by the forma- discovered Comet Hale-Bopp
Levy 9 (top) slamming that time, it is predicted to glow tion of a dark spot when debris July 23, 1995. Both observers had
into Jupiter, leaving
dark blemishes in the at magnitude –0.3, 12 times as from the fragment spread been viewing the globular cluster
gas giant’s swirling bright as its peak in 1986. through the jovian atmosphere. M70 in Sagittarius and spotted
atmosphere (bottom).
NASA, ESA, AND H. WEAVER AND
The largest spot measured the comet nearby. Orbital calcu-
E. SMITH (STSCI); JUDY SCHMIDT Comet Shoemaker- some 1,550 miles (2,500 km) lations showed that on the night
(CC BY 2.0)
Levy 9 (D/1993 F2) across and was circled by two they found it, Hale-Bopp lay
COMET HALE-BOPP A comet generally attains great- rings. The outermost ring was some 7.2 astronomical units from
(C/1995 O1) • The ness either by being bright or 7,500 miles (12,000 km) across, the Sun, nearly twice the usual
tails of Comet Hale-
Bopp are a stunning by exhibiting strange features nearly as big as Earth. discovery distance for comets.
sight in this image or movement. But there’s one The media was more than (One astronomical unit, or AU,
from March 27, 1997.
GERALD RHEMANN
other way: It can hit a planet! a little excited. But this time, it is the average distance between
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a good thing. Indeed, the Earth and the Sun.)
(SL9) was discovered March 24, hoopla benefited astronomy Luckily, unlike Comet
1993, by American astronomer clubs, whose members showed Kohoutek, Comet Hale-Bopp
Carolyn Shoemaker, American the public the new spots for brightened according to predic-
geologist Eugene Shoemaker, and several weeks. As the last spot tions. It first became visible to the
Canadian amateur astronomer faded, amateur astronomers naked eye from the darkest sites
David Levy. thought, “We’ll never have a May 17, 1996, and remained so
By the time the trio found it, comet that famous again in our for 18 months, surpassing the
SL9 had been orbiting Jupiter for lifetimes!” Uncharacteristically old record of nine months set
decades, after being captured by for astronomy, the wait for by the Great Comet of 1811.
the planet’s gravity. And it wasn’t something better was less than On March 7, 1997, Hale-Bopp
just trapped — tidal forces from two years away. reached magnitude 0. Two weeks
the giant planet had broken the later, it peaked at magnitude –0.8,
comet into more than 20 pieces. Comet Hale-Bopp which is brighter than any star
But the most exciting news (C/1995 O1) except Sirius (Alpha [α] Canis
came when astronomers calcu- American astronomer Majoris), with a tail that extended
lated SL9’s orbit. They found that Alan Hale, observing from nearly 20°. It was last seen with
its fragments would collide with Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and the naked eye Dec. 9, 1997.

40 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 COMET HYAKUTAK
E (C/1 996 B2)

Stating that Hale-Bopp is a approach to Earth, observers a program run by NASA and
long-period comet seems a bit of reported that colors were easily the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
an understatement. Its previous visible throughout its length. from 1995 until 2007. The comet COMET HYAKUTAKE
(C/1996 B2) • Comet
perihelion was in July 2215 B.C., Streamers in the tail exhibited reached perihelion Feb. 18, Hyakutake shows off
when it may have been observed various shades of blue, purple, 2003. At that point, it was only colorful streamers in its
lengthy tail as it streaks
in Egypt. It will next reach peri- and green. The coma also put 9.2 million miles (14.8 million across the sky in 1996.
helion in 4385 or later. on a show. Around this time, km) from the Sun. GERALD RHEMANN

it had a diameter of 1.5°, three Although some astronomers COMET NEAT

Comet Hyakutake times the width of the Full predicted that a comet as small (C/2002 V1) •
(C/1996 B2) Moon. as NEAT wouldn’t survive its This Feb. 2, 2003,
image shows Comet
Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Apart from its closest close encounter with the Sun, NEAT prior to its
Hyakutake was surprised when approach, probably the most it did. Scientists estimate it perihelion, during which
it passed close to the
he discovered this comet through thrilling sight was when will return in approximately Sun. GERALD RHEMANN
25x150 binoculars Jan. 30, 1996. observers in Europe and the 37,000 years. At its brightest,
It was in Libra, less than 4° from U.S. saw it alongside a totally the comet shone at a worthy
where he had found a different eclipsed Moon April 3/4. The magnitude –0.5.
dirty snowball on Christmas final naked-eye report came One interesting coincidence
night the previous month. Comet May 29. Unfortunately, it will occurred
Hyakutake continued to surprise be another 98,000 years
observers, many of whom (myself or so before Hyakutake
included) say that it’s the greatest returns to the inner
comet they’ve ever seen. solar system.
The comet reached naked-eye
visibility Feb. 26 and began a Comet NEAT
fairly quick rise in brightness (C/2002 V1)
through March. It peaked at mag- This comet was discov-
nitude 0 late that month. Comet ered Nov. 6, 2002, on
Hyakutake sported a spectacular an exposure taken by
tail, which observers at dark sites the 1.2-meter Schmidt
could see stretch for 100°. telescope located at the
V1)
But the tail’s length was only Near-Earth Asteroid COMET NEAT (C/2002
half the story. On March 25, the Tracking observatory
night of Hyakutake’s closest in Hawaii. NEAT was

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 41
 COMET MC
NAUGHT (C ES (17P)
/2006 P1) COMET HOLM

COMET MCNAUGHT
(C/2006 P1) • It’s when a coronal mass ejection hit Oort Cloud, a collection of Who knows if the comet will
easy to see in this the comet Feb. 17, a day before trillions of icy bodies that lie put on another repeat perfor-
photo, taken Jan. 22,
2007, from Maldonado,
perihelion. NEAT’s nucleus was in a sphere between 2,000 and mance in the future. Be sure to
Uruguay, why Comet unaffected, though astronomers 100,000 AU from the Sun. As follow its next perihelion, which
McNaught dazzled saw signs of an interaction such, it was a first-time visitor will occur Jan. 31, 2028.
Southern Hemisphere
observers. CIRO MONDUERI between the solar material and that took uncounted millions of
(CC BY 2.0) the comet’s tail. years to reach us. Calculating Comet Lovejoy
COMET HOLMES its return is a bit sketchy, but (C/2011 W3)
(17P) • This photo Comet McNaught astronomers’ best guess is that Australian amateur astronomer
shows off Holmes’
expansive coma as the
(C/2006 P1) it will reappear in approxi- Terry Lovejoy’s third comet dis-
comet swept past the Scottish-Australian astronomer mately 92,000 years. covery (he currently has six) took
California Nebula Robert H. McNaught discovered place Nov. 27, 2011. Based on its
(NGC 1499) in Perseus
in February 2008. his 31st comet (out of 82 total) Comet Holmes (17P) orbit, astronomers found the celes-
GERALD RHEMANN in the constellation Ophiuchus Comet Holmes, the 17th recog- tial visitor was a sungrazer that
on Aug. 7, 2006. But this Comet nized periodic comet, was dis- would pass within 516,000 miles
McNaught would prove more covered Nov. 6, 1892, by British (830,000 km) of the Sun at perihe-
wonderful than all his other amateur astronomer Edwin A. lion Dec. 16. When they studied
discoveries put together. Indeed, Holmes. Although Holmes has the orbit, they concluded the
it became the second-brightest a period of 6.9 years, it’s only comet was one of a special group
comet since 1935, topped only been observed a few times since known as Kreutz sungrazers.
by Ikeya-Seki in 1965. its discovery (generally because Researchers believe each of these
Its journey into the inner it is too faint). One of them, objects originated when a single
solar system took it within 15.9 however, stands out. large comet broke up, probably
million miles (25.6 million km) Holmes put on a terrific several thousand years ago. At
of the Sun on Jan. 12, 2007, the show in the fall of 2007 with a least half a dozen comets from
date of its perihelion. It peaked brilliant outburst months after this group have attained “great”
in brightness the following days its May 4 perihelion. In just status, including the Great Comet
at magnitude –5.5, bright 42 hours during Oct. 23 and 24, of 1882, which, at an estimated
enough to see during daylight it brightened more than 478,000 magnitude –17, shone more than
hours. The comet was a stunner times: from magnitude 17 to 50 times brighter than the Full
in the Southern Hemisphere, magnitude 2.8. It peaked at Moon. Ikeya-Seki was another
sporting luminous bands in a magnitude 2.4 by the end of famous Kreutz sungrazer.
tail that stretched some 35°. the month. During that time, Many experts expected the
The nucleus of Comet Holmes’ coma expanded to an small comet to break up during
McNaught originated in the apparent diameter of nearly 1°. its close passage, but Comet

42 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 4)
STARR S (C/2011 L
N
COMET PA

COMET LOVEJ
OY (C/2011 W3
)

Lovejoy survived its plunge into return. Gravitational interac-

the Sun’s corona. And although tions with the Sun and planets,
it was difficult to observe however, altered its orbit slightly,
because it was so close to the so astronomers now think it will
Sun, amateur astronomers return — in 105,000 years!
estimated it peaked at magnitude
–1 after perihelion. It will next Comet NEOWISE
return around 2633. (C/2020 F3)
The final comet on our list COMET NE
OWISE (C/2
Comet PanSTARRS was discovered by a team of 020 F3)
(C/2011 L4) researchers March 27, 2020,
On June 6, 2011, C/2011 L4 using the Near-Earth Object
became one of many comets dis- Wide-field Infrared Survey NEOWISE is a long-period
covered by the Panoramic Survey Explorer (NEOWISE). When comet. Before perihelion, its
Telescope and Rapid Response astronomers calculated its orbit, orbital period was about 4,400 COMET LOVEJOY
(C/2011 W3) • Comet
System (Pan-STARRS) 1 tele- they found it would reach peri- years. But after its interactions Lovejoy’s tail stretches
scope in Hawaii. At the time, helion July 3, passing 27 million with objects in the inner solar through the sky above
Araraquara, Brazil, on
it lay some 730 million miles miles (44 million km) from system, the period lengthened to Christmas Eve 2011.
(1.2 billion km) from the Sun, the Sun. nearly 6,800 years. Did it reach RENATO PIMENTEL (CC BY-ND 2.0)

so hopes were high that it would Before perihelion, NEOWISE great comet status? Observers COMET PANSTARRS
become bright. required a telescope or large who say yes cite its magnitude, (C/2011 L4) • Comet
PanSTARRS was first sighted binoculars. Afterward, however, even though it was only bright PanSTARRS never rose
out of the bright twilight,
by naked-eye observers Feb. 7, it brightened significantly for a for a couple of days. making it a better target
2013. It passed closest to Earth few days. At its best, the comet for binoculars and
photographers than
on March 5 and reached perihe- reached magnitude 1.5. Those Keep hope alive naked-eye observers.
lion five days later. Its brightness using binoculars and telescopes Bright comets can help us spread CHRIS SCHUR

was difficult to estimate because could see the comet’s tails, but our love of astronomy to the COMET NEOWISE
the comet never rose high above these features really showed general public. Surveys and (C/2020 F3) •
the horizon. It peaked around 1st detail in photographs. At their observers now discover roughly Comet NEOWISE
stunned in photographs,
magnitude, but most observers longest, both the ion tail and 200 comets each year. Let’s hope showing off great detail
recall that it was a stunning bin- the dust tail were more than one of them in the near future in its ion and dust tails.
CHRIS SCHUR
ocular object. 50° long. rises to greatness.
Comet PanSTARRS followed
a hyperbolic orbit, which would Michael E. Bakich is a contributing editor to Astronomy whose many
normally mean it will never orbits around the Sun mean that he recalls each of the comets in this list.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 43
 Catching
on
These fleeting beacons from the outer solar system
make for fantastic shots. BY DAMIAN A. PEACH

OVER THE LAST FEW

THE WORLD OF YEARS, we have been fortunate
COMETS to be treated to several dramatic
comets gracing our skies.
Comets C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) and C/2021 A1 (Leonard)
were both wonderful objects to observe and image, with
NEOWISE being one of the most impressive naked-eye
comets of the 21st century.

The timing of recent comets couldn’t be better from an imaging

standpoint, either. Since their introduction decades ago, digital cam- CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Comet Leonard,
captured here at its peak, has a multitude
eras have grown steadily in popularity and prevalence, so that nearly of fine tail streamers emanating from its
every amateur astronomer now has one — and the accompanying nucleus. Brighter comets can be among the
most spectacular objects in the sky to
improvements in light sensitivity has made image processing easier observe and photograph. DAMIAN PEACH
than ever before. Plus, thanks to smartphones, pretty much everyone
is equipped with a camera that is good enough to catch shots of these Near its peak brightness in July 2020, Comet
NEOWISE sports a yellowish fanned dust tail
brief visitors from the outskirts of our solar system. and narrow blue ion tail typical of brighter
comets. DAMIAN PEACH
Dirty snowballs Comet NEOWISE captured the world’s
Before you plan your composition and set up your equipment, you attention in 2020. This image was taken over
might be wondering what features you should be on the lookout for. the badlands and formations of Dinosaur
Provincial Park, Alberta, on July 14/15. ALAN DYER
Comets are small bodies of ice, rock, dust, and frozen gases which
CAMERA: DIMITRY ROMANCHUCK/DREAMSTIME

44 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 astronomers think originate from visible to us on Earth because it affected by the solar wind,
the distant reaches of our solar reflects sunlight. And occasion- always points directly away from
system. As these bodies slowly ally, a second tail can form the Sun. An ion tail typically
draw closer to the Sun, solar from the gases that are released presents a notable bluish color,
heating causes volatile materials by the comet. This is often in stark contrast to the hazy
within to vaporize. This blows called the gas tail or ion tail, white hue of a dust tail.
dust away from the comet’s which glows not due to solar If it’s a bright comet, there
nucleus, forming a large, tenuous illumination but ionization. might even be a third tail called
atmosphere around it called a Material from the dust tail the anti-tail. This tail can be
coma. escapes the comet’s gravita- seen emanating from the nucleus
Pressure from solar radiation tional grasp, spreading out and seemingly pointing toward
and the solar wind then shapes behind the comet along its the Sun. However, this is an
this coma into a tail of dusty orbital path, often taking on a optical illusion that can appear
material pointing away from the curved shape. Meanwhile, the as Earth crosses the plane of the
Sun. This dust tail is sometimes ion tail, which is more strongly comet’s orbit when the body is
close to the Sun. When viewed
from edge-on, the thin sheet of
cometary dust lagging behind
RIGHT: Comet 17P/ the comet looks like a sunward
Holmes, near its pointing spike.
maximum brightness Comets typically come in two
back in late 2007, was
captured using a DSLR main flavors: short- and long-
camera attached to period. Short-period comets
a small 3.2-inch
telescope. Several circle the Sun in less than
15-second exposures approximately 200 years, while
were combined to
reduce noise. Even
long-period ones can take thou-
basic equipment can sands to millions of years to
capture impressive complete a single orbit.
images of brighter
comets. DAMIAN PEACH There also exists a third type
of comet, known as a sungrazer.
BELOW: Views of
Aldebaran and Hyades
This special class is responsible
(left), the California for many of the most spectacular
Nebula (top right), and comets seen throughout history.
the Pleiades (center
right) were graced by Sungrazers are characterized by
Comet 46P/Wirtanen very small perihelion distances
and a Geminid meteor
Dec. 14/15, 2018. ALAN DYER — meaning they pass extremely
close to the Sun — which can
make them appear spectacularly
bright for a brief period.
Many great comets through-
out history were sungrazers,
COMET CONJUNCTIONS including C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki),
C/1975 V1 (West), and C/2006
BECAUSE COMETS RACE P1 (McNaught). More recently,
THROUGH the sky, they often in 2013, Comet C/2012 S1
pass close to other celestial
objects, such as nebulae and (ISON) came within about
galaxies. These brief conjunctions 730,000 miles (1.2 million km)
between comet and deep-sky
object can present you with the
of the Sun. Before its approach,
chance to capture a unique and giddy observers dubbed it
spectacular image. But your the “comet of the century.”
window of opportunity during any
cometary conjunction is typically Unfortunately, ISON disinte-
only a day or two, at most. That’s grated shortly after its perihelion
why it’s worth checking out your pass and never lived up to its
comet’s projected course across
the sky ahead of time, noting any dazzling expectations. But that’s
bright deep-sky objects it will visit. the frustrating thing about com-
Fortunately, most planetarium
programs can display this
ets that you simply have to live
information for you. — D.A.P. with: You never quite know what
you’re going to see!

46 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

DSLR photography
Unlike many forms of astropho- ANATOMY OF A COMET
tography, which can be quite
costly and complex, shooting
bright comets is a surpris-
it
ingly straightforward yet greatly o rb
t
me
rewarding pursuit. Keeping Co
a few simple points in mind,
anyone with a quality camera
Solar wind Coma
can easily capture spectacular and sunlight
images of these stunning celes-
tial bodies.
For bright comets, which we Dust tail
will define here as those visible
to the naked eye, a digital SLR
equipped with a standard
18–55mm lens and mounted on
a sturdy tripod will suffice. Nucleus Io
n
ta
First, set the camera to operate il
in “M” (manual) mode, giving
you full control over the camera A frozen nucleus lies at the heart of every comet.
settings. Carefully focus the As it approaches the Sun, a coma — or fuzzy cloud
camera on a bright star, the of gas and dust — forms around the body. Particles
Moon (if available), or even the and light from the Sun push the coma into a white
tail of dust and an aptly named bluish ion tail
comet itself, if it’s bright enough composed of charged gas molecules, called ions.
for the autofocus to latch onto it. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

Most DSLRs today are equipped

with a “live view” mode that
allows you to focus the lens
using a magnified real-time CONSUMER CAMERAS
view through the camera’s LCD
display. This feature is extremely THE CONSUMER-CAMERA INDUSTRY is quickly
transitioning from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, which
useful for easy, accurate are lighter and have some advantages, especially for
focusing. photographers on the go. There are mirrorless
Next, you’ll want to set the models that are well-suited or even designed for
lens aperture to its widest value, astrophotography — but they tend to be more expensive
or lowest f-number. You’ll also than their older DSLR counterparts. While you may not
be able to find a new DSLR for sale much longer, rest
want to set the ISO sensitivity assured that DSLRs and their lenses will continue to be
to around 400 to 800 for bright the trusted choice of many astrophotographers, including
comets. For fainter comets, you the budget-minded, for years to come. — Mark Zastrow
might get better results with a
higher ISO, somewhere in the
1600 to 3200 range. Keep in
mind, however, higher ISOs used this mode on many occa- you’ll need to use to avoid LEFT: Comet C/2015
V2 (Johnson) was an
lead to noisier images. sions with great success. trailing. You can also combat impressive object for
A sturdy tripod is a must for Once you begin taking trailing by attaching your cam- small- to medium-sized
any form of astrophotography. images of your comet, experi- era to a small driven mount, but telescopes. It’s fairly
common to have a few
You also might want a remote ment with different exposure that might not be an option for comets like this pass
release so that you can trigger times. Your ideal exposure time everyone. And, of course, through our skies in any
given year; they often
the camera shutter without hav- will depend on your camera, maybe you want star trails in make great targets for
ing to touch it and risk blurring how bright the comet is, and your shot! imaging. DAMIAN PEACH
the image. However, DSLRs how bright your local sky is. Although it takes a bit more
have various time-delay modes; In general, however, you will work, the best way to truly cap-
so you can physically press the always want to keep your single ture the beauty of comets is to
shutter-release button, and then exposures to around 15 seconds take a series of shots and then
the camera will wait a few sec- or less to avoid star trails. The stack them together to enhance
onds before opening the shutter higher the focal length of your details and reduce background
for a set amount of time. I have lens, the shorter exposure time noise, especially if using higher

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 47
 ISO settings. There are many of dim comets within reach You’ll also need to update the
programs available that allow of an amateur scope mounted program’s comet orbital elements
you to easily stack images. The with a high-quality camera. using the Minor Planet Center’s
planetary image-processing pro- Although most are likely too ephemerides. (See the “Further
gram RegiStax will do a good job faint to be worth capturing, Reading” sidebar on the next
stacking images from DSLR often, there are several gracing page.) These are databases that
cameras, and it’s also very easy the sky at once, and they make provide the calculated positions
to use. DeepSkyStacker also for excellent targets through of celestial objects; this will
works well, and both programs small scopes. ensure the positions of known
are free to download. Pretty much any telescope comets are displayed accurately,
can be used to shoot as well as add any new
Imaging through comets. But observers comets as they are
a scope tend to favor fast discovered. These
A telescope
A telescope opens up a whole refractors, programs also
opens up a whole
range of fainter comets for imag- Newtonians, allow you to input
range of fainter comets
ing, not just those rare and spec- and Ritchey- your camera and
for imaging, not just
tacular naked-eye sights. At any Chrétiens for telescope field
those rare and
one time, there can be hundreds their wide, flat of view to allow
spectacular naked-
fields of view you to better plan
eye sights.
and fast f-ratios. out your composi-
Although DSLRs tion by carefully posi-
will still produce good tioning the comet on the
results, many observers opt camera sensor for optimal
to use dedicated astronomical framing.
CCD cameras, such as those When imaging most comets
manufactured by companies through a telescope, you’ll imme-
RIGHT: Comet Leonard like SBIG and FLI. These cam- diately notice that your target
appears to have a tail
stretching some 3.5° eras are certainly not cheap, moves with respect to the back-
in this image captured but they do offer the highest ground star field. Some comets
Dec. 10, 2021. ALAN DYER
image quality. Using dedicated move across the sky much faster
BELOW: Comet C/2013 CCD cameras requires the than others, but usually, any sin-
V5 (Oukaimeden) was
only close to the famous
usual methods associated with gle exposure longer than four to
Rosette Nebula in deep-sky astrophotography, five minutes will result in trailing
Monoceros for just over such as using dark frames and of the comet itself in your image.
a day, so the window in
which to capture this flat fields to fully calibrate the The easy solution to this is to
view was brief. Planning images before processing. take several short exposures,
ahead — combined with
some lucky weather Planning your imaging ses- such as five 60-second shots,
— ensured this sion is especially important and then stack them together.
breathtaking sight! when using your telescope. This will result in a clean and
DAMIAN PEACH
Many comets reach their sharp comet, but it will also
peak brightness when they leave you with a trailed star field.
are located low in the twilight Nonetheless, this method is the
sky, so time is often limited one employed by most telescopic
when it comes to capturing comet observers.
good data. If you want to avoid trails
Quality planetarium soft- altogether, you can use a more
ware is essential to planning complex image processing rou-
observations, especially for tine that combines two different
comets. Many software pack- master image stacks: one short-
ages are available, such exposure stack showcasing trail-
as TheSky, Starry Night, and less stars and another long-
Cartes du Ciel. Planetarium exposure stack that makes the
programs like these allow comet really pop.
you to carefully plan out your
observing session, helping Remote imaging
you maximize your data and, Another fantastic way to capture
therefore, the quality of your stunning photographs of comets
final image. is by using remotely operated

48 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

 The summer Milky
telescopes. These telescopes are access to telescopes located at bonus of this approach is that Way sets behind the
located under extremely dark top-tier dark-sky locations, all most comets are bright enough Chilescope Observatory.
skies and are a great option for without leaving the comfort that they don’t require lengthy The center of our galaxy
is an incredible sight
those stuck under cloudy or of your own home. Many tele- exposures. Since many remote under the dark and
light-polluted skies. For a modest scopes, both amateur and pro- services charge based on expo- transparent sky of
the Atacama Desert.
fee, you can log onto a telescope fessional, are successfully sure time, from a financial DAMIAN PEACH

online and control it in real operated in this manner today, perspective, remote comet imag-
time to target the object of your and I’ve carried out numerous ing is quite affordable for most
choice. During your slated obser- observations this way. — unlike observing a deep-sky
vation window, you are provided Several remote observatories object for multiple hours.
with live views of the sky and ranging in both capability No matter how you choose
weather, you can view images and location are now available to capture your next — or first
from the telescope as they are to amateurs. Providers such — image of a comet racing
captured, and you can download as Chilescope, iTelescope, across the night sky, don’t forget
your data in the usual FITS for- TelescopeLive, and Slooh all you’re observing an ancient relic
mat for processing. offer a multitude of telescope left over from the very forma-
The real benefit here, however, systems suitable for remotely tion of our solar system.
is that this method gives you imaging comets. Another Throughout history, these bea-
cons have been viewed as both
joyous heralds of the gods and
FURTHER READING dread-inspiring harbingers of
doom. But now we know they
BOOKS: Hunting and Imaging Comets (Springer, 2010), do not, in fact, signal our fate.
by Martin Mobberley That’s in our own hands.
FOR THE LATEST COMET INFORMATION: http://www.aerith.net So, next time a comet graces
the skies, grab your gear, get
MINOR PLANET CENTER OBSERVABLE COMETS:
https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/Ephemerides/Comets
outside, and start shooting!
REMOTE OBSERVATORY FACILITIES:
Damian A. Peach is an
http://www.chilescope.com
https://www.telescope.live amateur astronomer, veteran
https://www.itelescope.net astrophotographer, and a long-time
contributor to Astronomy.

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 49
 2

1 3
 A gallery of

THE WORLD OF Specters of comets have filled the night sky across the
COMETS eons. Here are some of the recent best. BY MARK ZASTROW
COMETS PROVIDE PHOTOGRAPHERS with Sun and unleash their tails across the entire sky, they
endless possibilities. They are dynamic close-up make for spectacular wide-field vistas.
subjects: capable of shifting their form from night Where once these landscapes were captured only
to night, sprouting nebulous comae, and even in sketches and paintings, the steady march of
undergoing outbursts. Comets are also itinerant technology has enabled astroimagers to record them
photobombers, regularly crossing paths with familiar in increasingly stunning photographs. The images
deep-sky objects as they glide elliptically against the here capture some of the great (and nearly great)
celestial sphere. And when great comets graze the comets of the past six decades.

1 Ikeya-Seki (C/1965 S1)

Discovered in September 1965, this
3 Kohoutek (C/1973 E1)
Comet Kohoutek may not have lived
sungrazer lived up to all expectations. up to its billing as the “comet of the
Over the next month, it blossomed into century,” but this three-minute exposure
one of the brightest comets of the on Palomar Observatory’s 1.2-meter
millennium — an indisputably great Schmidt telescope taken Jan. 12, 1974,
comet. This four-minute exposure was captured its streaming tail in stunning
taken at dawn from Kitt Peak National detail. PALOMAR OBSERVATORY
Observatory Oct. 29, 1965, eight days

4 West (C/1975 V1)

after perihelion. ROGER LYNDS/NOIRLAB/NSF/AURA

Burned by the letdown of Kohoutek, the

2 Bennett (C/1969 Y1)
Bennett’s ion tail featured a prominent
media did not trumpet Comet West with
much fanfare. But West put on a fine
kink, seen in this two-minute exposure display and reached a peak apparent
taken April 4, 1970, with the 0.8-meter magnitude of –3, making it the brightest
Schmidt telescope at Hamburg comet since Ikeya-Seki. J. LINDER/ESO
Observatory. Nine days later, the crew
of Apollo 13 attempted to photograph 4
Comet Bennett from deep space, but
they were unsuccessful. BURLAGA ET AL. 1972;
K. LUBECK, HAMBURG OBSERVATORY

WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 51
 5

5 Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)

The magnificent Comet Hale-Bopp was
already visible to the naked eye in May
1996, nearly a year before it reached
perihelion. When it reappeared after
swinging around the Sun, it remained
visible unaided through nearly all of
1997. In this shot taken April 2, 1997, its
blue ion tail is passing over the Heart
and Soul nebulae (IC 1805 and IC 1848)
at lower left and, just to the right, the
Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869
and NGC 884). GERALD RHEMANN

6 Halley (1P)
Comet Halley’s most recent apparition,
in 1986, was its least-favorable on record,
6 especially for Northern Hemisphere
viewers. Still, it was a nearly-once-in-a-
lifetime chance to see the most famous
comet in history. This photo captures one
such moment from Lake Havasu, Arizona,
in March of that year. ALAN DYER

7 Levy (C/1990 K1)

Comet hunter David Levy is perhaps
best known for his co-discovery of
Shoemaker-Levy 9, which smashed into
Jupiter in July 1994. But Comet Levy
(C/1990 K1) put on a show closer to home,
reaching magnitude 3.1 in August 1990. It
was also the first comet observed by the
Hubble Space Telescope. CHRIS SCHUR

8 Hyakutake (C/1996 B2)

As the world awaited the arrival of Hale-
Bopp in early 1996, Comet Hyakutake,
discovered Jan. 31, suddenly rose to
prominence, temporarily stealing the
spotlight with a colorful display. This
7 five-minute exposure was taken as
Hyakutake reached perihelion in April
1996. GERALD RHEMANN
— continued on page 54

52 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023 8

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— continued from page 52

1,000 miles/1,609 km
July 5, 2000

10

July 6, 2000

9 NEAT (C/2002 V1)

Comet NEAT revealed a couple of intriguing
11 LINEAR (C/1999 S4)
Comet LINEAR was, overall, a bit of a
scientific implications. To many astronomers’ disappointment, disintegrating before it
surprise — and despite its apparent reached perihelion in late July 2000. But
diminutive size — it survived its close before it fell apart, the Hubble Space
encounter with the Sun. It even endured a Telescope managed to capture a dramatic
solar storm in the form of a coronal mass outburst in early July, when the comet
ejection, a powerful cloud of charged suddenly brightened by half in the span
particles ejected from the surface of the Sun. of four hours and, a day later, expelled a
This plasma interacted with the tail, putting chunk of its crust behind it. These images
a kink in it. CHRIS SCHUR offered scientists one of their most
detailed glimpses to date of how a comet
July 7, 2000

10
erupts and fragments. NASA, H. WEAVER AND
PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) P. FELDMAN (JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY), M. A’HEARN

When this comet was discovered in June (UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND), C. ARPIGNY (LIEGE UNIVERSITY),

2011 by the Pan-STARRS telescope on M. COMBI (UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN), M. FESTOU (OBSERVATOIRE

Haleakalā in Hawaii, it still lay between the MIDI-PYRENEES), AND G.-P. TOZZI (ARCETRI OBSERVATORY)

orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. It finally became

visible to the naked eye near perihelion in
March 2013. Although it did not quite match
initial brightness predictions, it featured a
12 McNaught (C/2006 P1)
Comet McNaught proved a treat for
remarkably long anti-tail that spanned as Southern Hemisphere observers, featuring
much as 7°, visible in this May 22 image. prominent striations in its spectacular dust
GERALD RHEMANN tail. The beautiful structure was captured
fanning out above the Pacific Ocean in this
image taken from Paranal Observatory in
Chile in January 2007. S. DEIRIES/ESO
11
54 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023
 13 ISON (C/2012 S1)
Like so many comets before it, ISON was heralded
and hyped but ultimately turned out to be a dud —
relatively speaking. It still proved an alluring
photographic target, as this shot from Nov. 21, 2013,
demonstrates. GERALD RHEMANN

14 Holmes (17P)
Comet Holmes was discovered by Edwin Holmes
in 1892 and has a period of just under seven years.
But it was lost for several decades between 1906
and 1964 as it was too faint. It gave its most
dazzling performance in October 2007, when it
suddenly underwent an outburst. This image was
taken Dec. 3, after the coma had expanded to a
volume greater than that of the Sun. CHRIS SCHUR

15 Lovejoy (C/2011 W3)

Comet Lovejoy was discovered in November 2011
and emerged from perihelion in mid-December,
putting a glimmering celestial bow on a festive time
of year. Here, it appears above the limb of Earth
Dec. 22, 2011, as photographed from the
International Space Station by the orbiting
laboratory’s then-commander Dan Burbank. NASA

12

14

13 15
 16

16 NEOWISE (C/2020 F3)

Comet NEOWISE was discovered in late March
Mark Zastrow is a senior
editor of Astronomy. As a
2020, just as the world was locking down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. When it peaked July 23, it was child, his first great comet
the brightest comet since McNaught. Millions was Hale-Bopp, but what
around the world went outside to observe it —
socially distanced but reveling together in the sight
he really remembers is the
of a sublime cosmic phantom. While astronomers sight of grown men in a
debate whether NEOWISE qualifies as a great bank weeping the next day
comet, we can all agree on one thing: Hopefully, the
next great comet will arrive amid more auspicious recalling its beauty.
circumstances. ADAM BLOCK. INSET: TUNC TEZEL

56 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

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publisher: 21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612 Bob’s Knobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
9. Publisher: Brian Schmidt, 21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612
Editor: David Eicher, 21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612
10. Owner: Kalmbach Media Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha,
WI 53187-1612. Stockholders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount Celestron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
of stock are: Deborah H.D. Bercot, 22012 Indian Springs Trail, Amberson, PA 17210;
Gerald and Patricia Boettcher Trust, 8041 Warren Ave., Wauwatosa, WI 53213; Sally
Darragh, 145 Prospect Ave., Waterloo, IA 50703; Melanie J. Duval Trusts, 2948 Fontana
Dr., Lincoln, CA 95648; Harold Edmonson, 6021 N. Marmora Ave., Chicago, IL 60646- Chiracahua Sky Village LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3903; Laura & Gregory Felzer, 3328 S. Honey Creek Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53219; Susan E.
Fisher Trust, 3430 E. Sunrise Dr., Ste. 200, Tucson, AZ 85718; Bruce H. Grunden, 7202
Wild Violet Dr., Humble, TX 77436; Linda H. Hanson Trust, P.O. Box 19, Arcadia, MI
49613; George F. Hirschmann Trusts, P.O. Box 19, Arcadia, MI 49613; Susan E. Ingles Cloud Break Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Trust, 2604 Oakcrest Dr., Waukesha, WI 53188; Charles & Lois Kalmbach Living Trust,
7435 N. Braeburn Ln., Glendale, WI 53209; Kalmbach Profit Sharing/401K Savings Plan
& Trust, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; Elizabeth King Trusts, U.S. Bank, 777
E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202; Mahnke Family Trusts, 4756 Marlborough Daniel R Spirer Jewelers, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Way, Carmichael, CA 95608; Milwaukee Art Museum, Inc., 700 N. Art Museum Dr.,
Milwaukee, WI 53202; Cynthia Darragh Oatman, 1708 Roxborough Rd., Unit E,
Charlotte, NC 28211; Lois E. Stuart Trust, 1320 Pantops Cottage Ct. #1, Charlottesville,
VA 22911-4663; David M. Thornburgh Trust, 8855 Collins Ave., Apt. 3A, Surfside, FL Dream Telescopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
33154.
11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding
1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None.
12. Tax status (for completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at Eclipse Traveler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
nonprofit rates): Has not changed during preceding 12 months
13. Publication title: ASTRONOMY
14. Issue date for circulation data below: 09/01/2022
15. Extent and nature of circulation: Average no. No. copies iOptron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
copies each issue of single issue
during preceding published nearest

Miniature Inner Planet Orrery

12 months to filing date
a. Total number of copies (net press run) 99,102 95,432 Knightware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
b. Paid circulation (by mail and outside the mail)
1. Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions 69,382 68,631
2. Mailed in-county paid subscriptions -0- -0-
Lowell Observatory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 This orrery shows the correct motions of Mercury,
3. Paid distribution outside the mails
including sales through dealers and carriers, Venus, Earth, Moon, and Mars to 1% accuracy. Driven by
street vendors, counter sales, and other
paid distribution outside USPS 6,105 5,552
Metamorphosis Jewelry Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 a knob below the base, it’s a delightful demonstration
4. Paid distribution by other classes
of mail through the USPS -0- -0- of the motions of our planetary neighbors.
c. Total paid distribution
[sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)] 75,487 74,183
NEAF DEALER PAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Made from aircraft
d. Free or nominal rate distribution (by mail
and outside the mail) grade aluminum
1. Outside-county -0- -0- and brass, the
2. In-county -0- -0-
3. Other classes mailed through the USPS 215 216 Oberwerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 orrery measures
4. Outside the mail -0- -0- 4 inches across.
e. Total free or nominal rate distribution
[sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)]
f. Total distribution (sum of 15c and 15e)
215
75,702
216
74,399 Scope Buggy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
g. Copies not distributed 23,400 21,033
h. Total (sum of 15f and g) 99,102 95,432
i. Percent paid (15c divided by 15f times 100)
16. Electronic copy circulation:
99.72% 99.71%
Space and Beyond Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
a. Paid electronic copies 4,068 3,719
b. Total paid print copies (15c) plus paid
electronic copies (16a)
c. Total print distribution (15f ) plus paid
79,555 77,902 Unistellar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Email [email protected]
electronic copies (16a) 79,770 78,118
d. Percent paid, both print and electronic
(16b divided by 16c times 100) 99.73% 99.72% The Advertiser Index is provided as a service to Astronomy
17. Publication of Statement of Ownership:
Publication required. Printed in the 01/01/2023 issue of this publication. magazine readers. The magazine is not responsible for
18. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. omissions or for typographical errors in names or
Nicole McGuire, Senior Vice President, Marketing. Date: September 28, 2022.
page numbers. www.armstrongmetalcrafts.com

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 57
 BREAKTHROUGH

HALLEY PLIES THE MILKY WAY

For the past 37 years, Comet 1P/Halley has been edging its way ever deeper into the solar system. Now well beyond
the orbit of Neptune, history’s most famous comet will start its long journey back toward the Sun in late 2023. It will
make its closest approach to both the Sun and Earth in July 2061, when it should reach 2nd magnitude among the dim
background stars of the northern constellation Lynx. Observers will be in for a fine show — perhaps even better than
during its 1986 appearance. This image shows Halley in March of that year against the backdrop of eastern Sagittarius,
with the bright glow of the central Milky Way to its west. (North is to the right in this view.) ESO

58 ASTRONOMY • JANUARY 2023

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SOUTHERN SKY BY MARTIN GEORGE

March 2023
A match made in the heavens
Early March finds the Look higher in the evening planet’s disk and some of its 2.5° in length and extending
two brightest planets sky and you should have little fainter moons. Of course, one “directly towards the bright
embracing low in the western trouble picking out Mars. The moon is always prominent: 8th- star Zeta Argûs.”
evening twilight. As magnitude Red Planet begins March magnitude Titan, the solar sys- The star has long been
–3.9 Venus continues to draw among the horns of Taurus, not tem’s second-largest satellite. known as Naos after a Greek
away from the Sun, it passes far from the magnitude 1.7 star Mercury stays pretty much word meaning ship. Indeed, it
just 0.5° north of magnitude Elnath (Beta [β] Tauri) that out of sight all month. It passes appears as such in Elijah
–2.1 Jupiter on March 2. The marks the northern horn’s tip. on the far side of the Sun from Burritt’s Geography of the
planets reside in Pisces the Fish Mars’ slow eastward motion our perspective, a configura- Heavens (1856). This name did
and hang quite low in the sky, carries it 3.1° south of Elnath tion known as superior con- not become official until 2016,
especially from more southerly on the 9th and into the neigh- junction, March 17. however, when the International
latitudes, because the ecliptic boring constellation Gemini Astronomical Union included
— the apparent path of the Sun the Twins on the 26th. The starry sky it in its list of approved star
and planets across the sky — Although still a prominent The constellation Puppis the names. In including the name
makes a shallow angle to the object, Mars fades from magni- Stern passes nearly overhead on Naos in his text, Burritt also
western horizon in late summer tude 0.4 to 0.9 this month. March evenings. It is one of the referred to it as being part of the
and early autumn. As the planet dims, its disk three constellations that astron- giant (and obscure) asterism
By month’s end, Venus will appears to shrink, from 8" to 6" omers formed from the large, known as the “Egyptian X”
be in southern Aries the Ram, in diameter. This makes the unwieldy constellation Argo formed by Naos, Phact (Alpha
about two binocular fields to ruddy world a less-appealing the Ship, which Jason and the Columbae), Betelgeuse,
the lower left of the Pleiades sight through a telescope than Argonauts supposedly used in Procyon, and Sirius.
star cluster (M45) in Taurus the it was a few months ago. their search for the Golden Naos shines at magnitude
Bull. The 6th-magnitude planet March sees a welcome Fleece, and it contains a num- 2.2 and is easy to spot even
Uranus lies only 1.3° south of return of a favorite planet to ber of intriguing objects. under light-polluted skies. Its
Venus on the 31st, making a the predawn sky. Saturn stands After astronomers divided apparent magnitude belies its
fine sight through binoculars nearly 20° above the eastern the Ship, each of the constella- true nature, however. In terms
or a wide-field telescope. And horizon as twilight begins in tions Puppis, Carina, and Vela of absolute brightness, Zeta
needless to say, it’s a great late March. The ringed planet retained their original Greek Pup is one of the most brilliant
opportunity to find the nor- shines at magnitude 0.9 among letters from Argo. Thus, all stars known. It has an absolute
mally elusive outer planet. the fainter background stars of three have several “missing” magnitude of –6.2, which is
Unfortunately, a scope does Aquarius the Water-bearer. In letters. For example, Alpha (α) the magnitude it would appear
not add much to Venus. The contrast to its position in the Argûs (Canopus) has become to have if seen from 10 parsecs
inner planet’s disk appears 14" western evening sky, the eclip- Alpha Carinae, but no Alpha (32.6 light-years) away. It
across and three-quarters lit tic shoots nearly straight up star exists in Puppis or Vela. therefore shines 11 magni-
as April beckons. from the eastern horizon these Puppis’ brightest star is the tudes, or 25,000 times, brighter
Unlike Venus, Jupiter is now March mornings. original Zeta (ζ) Argûs, so than the Sun.
on its final approach to the A beautiful view of Saturn we now call it Zeta Puppis. The binocular field in the
Sun. A few weeks after its close awaits anyone who points a I recently came across an vicinity of Naos is very attrac-
conjunction with our sister telescope in its direction. The 1874 letter in the newspaper tive. It includes NGC 2451
world, the Sun’s largest planet rings now tilt just 9° to our Australian Town and Country (which I explored in a previous
becomes lost in evening twi- line of sight. (In two years, Journal in which a reader men- article and appears like, but is
light. Jupiter’s proximity to the they will appear edge-on.) tioned Zeta Argûs because of not actually, an open star clus-
Sun and low altitude also pre- Although it’s harder to see its proximity to the direction ter), NGC 2477 (Caldwell 71),
cludes the possibility of seeing Cassini’s Division in the rings of Comet Coggia, a prominent and NGC 2546. I’ll take a
much detail on the planet when they have a lower tilt, object that year. The writer closer look at the latter two
through a telescope. I find it easier to view the described the comet’s tail as another time.
STAR DOME
S

PA V O

TUC
A NA
E
PH UM
HOW TO USE THIS MAP EN
O
NG C
UL

This map portrays the sky as seen IX 104

O C TA N S
near 30° south latitude. Located
inside the border are the cardinal
Ac

SW
he SMC
rn S
directions and their intermediate _ ar
RU S
HYD APU
points. To find stars, hold the map SCP
overhead and orient it so one of
the labels matches the direction C HA M A E L E O N A
SC
MU
you’re facing. The stars above
MEN
H SA
O
the map’s horizon now match O
R RE
L
what’s in the sky.
TI
CU OG LMC _
LU IU NG D O
M M C 2 RA
The all-sky map shows 070 D
O
how the sky looks at: VOL A N 2 X
PI S 337 C
CT NGC 2561 NG
10 P.M. March 1
F
O
OR
R
9 P.M. March 15 CAR
N
_ I NA
AX

8 P.M. March 31

Ca
CA

n o
EL
Planets are shown

pu

PU
s
U
LA
E R I DA

at midmonth

PP
M
VE

IS
a
c

247 C
NUS

N
C OLU

G
7

L IA
MAP SYMBOLS

IS
M BA

PYX

ANT
LEPUS

¡
W

Open cluster

M41
Globular cluster

CA JOR
`

M
Rigel

Diffuse nebula

NI
A

S
_ O
`

Sir O C
Planetary nebula
M

M
ius E
47
N

Galaxy rd
M4

lpha _
2

A
R
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X
S

SE
RA
STAR Pr HYD
_ ocyon
Ald

MAGNITUDES
Be
O
eb

te
RI

lg

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ara
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Sirius CAN
eu
O

MIN IS CANCER
se
N
n

_
UR

0.0 3.0 OR us
l
US

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1.0 4.0 Re
c a
2.0 M
5.0 1
M M44
ar
Ple

s M3
iad

5
`
es

` P
ollux
STAR COLORS GE _
M MI Castor
A star’s color depends 36 NI
N

M3
on its surface temperature.
W

•• The hottest stars shine blue

Slightly cooler stars appear white
M3
AU
8
RI LY N X
• Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow
GA

• Lower-temperature stars appear orange

`

• The coolest stars glow red UR

SA

• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color

receptors, so they appear white unless you
use optical aid to gather more light

N
BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
 MARCH 2023
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
A
AR

ST
RA 1 2 3 4
AU A N G
I
TR A
RM
O
US N 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

SE
N
CI R
CI

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

_ 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
S
PU

`
LU

S
U
R
U
75 4 TA 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
GC N EN
39

C
51

`
C
NG

a b 26 27 28 29 30 31
R
8

C
512

Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
GC

from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

N

3
M8

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
2 Venus passes 0.5° north of Jupiter, 11h UT
C O RV U S

Spica

3 The Moon is at apogee (405,889 kilometers from Earth), 18h00m UT

7
_

Full Moon occurs at 12h40m UT

E
ic M104

15 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 2h08m UT

ER

VIRGO
C R AT

16 Neptune is in conjunction with the Sun, 0h UT

)

t
ip
cl
n
(e 17 Mercury is in superior conjunction, 11h UT
Su
S

e 19
N

th The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 15h UT

TA

o f
th
X

Pa The Moon is at perigee (362,696 kilometers from Earth), 15h12m UT

20 March equinox occurs at 21h24m UT
ola

21 Dwarf planet Ceres is at opposition, 8h UT

eb
en
65

S
66

` D

CE

New Moon occurs at 17h23m UT

M

NI

O 22
RE

LE
The Moon passes 0.5° south of Jupiter, 20h UT
BE

4
M6

a 24 The Moon passes 0.1° south of Venus, 10h UT

A
M
CO

25 The Moon passes 1.5° north of Uranus, 1h UT

NG

28 The Moon passes 2° north of Mars, 13h UT

R
NO
MI
E

Mercury passes 1.5° north of Jupiter, 15h UT

N

L EO
29 First Quarter Moon occurs at 2h32m UT
31 Venus passes 1.3° north of Uranus, 6h UT
The Moon is at apogee (404,919 kilometers from Earth), 11h17m UT
R
M AJO