Stargazers are in for a treat as Comet Lulin will swing closest to Earth and is expected to be visible to the naked eye on Tuesday. Comet Lulin, also known as the "Green Comet" because of the green tint due the chemicals in its head, will be within 38 million miles from Earth.
"The comet is brightening every day as it approaches Earth," said Amar Sharma a Bangalore-based amateur astronomer who has been observing the comet for the past few days.
"On Tuesday, February 24 the comet will be at its closest approach to Earth and is expected to be visible to the naked eye," Nehru Planetarium Director N Rathnasree said.
The comet will be visible as a faint green smudge low in the east-southeast sky before dawn. If the weather is clear and there is no haze in the sky, one should be able to locate the comet. A pair of binoculars or a moderate telescope might be needed to view the comet from the light polluted areas of cities like Delhi, she added.
When it's able to be seen, the Comet Lulin will be just 61 million kilometres away — about 160 times the distance between the Earth and the moon — which will be its closest approach to our planet, according to NASA.
The comet, whose official name is C/2007 N3, is expected to appear about a third of the way up the southern sky, a few degrees from Saturn in the constellation Leo. It is called "Lulin" after Lulin Observatory in Taiwan, where astronomers discovered it last year.
Scientists are using NASA's Swift Satellite to track and study the comet as it approaches.
The satellite includes probes that detect ultraviolet and X-ray radiation, which can be used to learn more about its chemistry, said a news release Friday from the Science and Technology Facilities Council in the United Kingdom, which is collaborating with NASA.The satellite can detect hydroxyl molecules that are produced when water is broken down by ultraviolet light from the sun.
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