Check out a telescope, see a comet

Thu, 03/30/2017 - 4:04pm by amy

Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak is flying over Earth's North Pole this week. Although it's not quite visible to the naked eye, backyard astronomers can find it fairly easily as it's near the bowl of the Big Dipper. (Here's a map to help locate its position.)

Why is it green? According to Spaceweather.com, "Like many comets, 41P has a verdant hue because its atmosphere contains diatomic carbon (C2)--a substance that glows green in the near vacuum of space. Comet 41P is not only approaching Earth, but also the sun. April 12th is the date of perihelion (minimum distance from the sun). This means we are catching the comet just as solar heating is furiously searing its icy core. The green atmosphere should be well puffed up by streamers of vaporizing gas."

Check out one of our Orion Starblast telescopes today so you're ready when the rain stops and the skies clear up.