comet ISON , 28th November 2013

This comet was discovered on 21st September 2012. It is also known as C/2012 S1. It is a Sun grazing comet which means that it would get extremely close to the surface of the Sun, on 28th November 2013 it would be at a distance of just 0.012 AU or 18,00,000 Km from the center of the Sun . It is also known as the comet of the century because at it's perihelion it's apparent magnitude is predicted to go upto -1.83. But there is a slight problem, at this stage it would be extremely close to the Sun which means that the Sun light might just overpower the light from the comet. I used the software "Stellarium" to look for it's apparent magnitude and this is what i found.

15th October - 9.21 (Apparent mag.), near Regulus

25th October -8.30, below Leo

5th November -6.88,  near Virgo

15th November -5.13,b/w Porrima and Spica

25th November -1.98, in libra

28th Novembar -(-1,83), near Acarb (Scorpius)

So i came to the conclusion that the best time to look for the comet would be right before dawn between 15th to 25th November because it would be bright enough and it wouldn't be that close to the Sun.

(this is the path of the comet before 15th October)

Now before reaching it's perihelion this comet would be bright and easily visible which is a spectacular sight in it self but what makes it even more interesting is that after it reaches it's perihelion it can turn even brighter. Although there is a possibility that it might get destroyed due to the Suns heat. The nucleus of the comet is around 5 Km so in this case we can be a little optimistic. 

(C/2012 S1 as captured by Hubble Space Telescope on 10−11 April 2013)

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Not much is known about this comet as of yet. I would keep updating my blog as i get more information on this. Please share this post so that more and more people become aware of this comet. 

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Supermoon 23rd June 2013

What is a Supermoon???

A supermoon is a coincidence of a  new moon or a full moon with the closest approach it makes with the Earth's orbit. This closest point of approach is known as Perigee. At perigee the moon is around 3,57,210 Km away from the Earth whereas at Apogee it's around 4,05,978 Km.

Where to look??? 

First hint look at the moon, but if you want to know the exact location then the moon would be in the constellation of Capricon.

The difference wouldn't be much but it would still be worth watching.

It would occur on June 23 2013 at 11.32 UTC so it wouldn't be visible in most parts at it's Perigee but you can still catch a glimpse of it on 22nd night. The difference wouldn't be much.

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How to identify sagittarius constellation and its' various deep sky objects

As most of you would know the center of our milky way galaxy is in Sagittarius and it also contains many star clusters and nebulae. Although it contains many bright stars it is difficult to imagine the centaur hence the other famous asterism for this constellation is the tea pot. The few bright stars of this constellation are Kaus Australis, Kaus Meridionalis also known as Kaus Media, Nash, Kaus Borealis, Nunki, Ascella, Rukbat.

On the ecliptic it is placed between Scorpius and Capricornus. Above the ecliptic it is surrounded by Aquila, Serpenes Cauda and Scutum. Below the ecliptic there is Corona Australis and Telescopium. It has three relatively bright nebulae The Lagoon Nebula (M 8) ,The Omega Nebula (M 17) both these object have an apparent magnitude of 6.0 and the Trifid Nebula (M 20) it has an apparent magnitude of 6.3. Together these three Nebulas are known as the Sagittarius Triplet.

The Lagoon Nebula (M 8)

The Omega Nebula (M 17)

The Trifid Nebula (M 20) 

Apart from nebulas it also contains numerous star clusters. 

M 22, apparent magnitude- 5.1

M 24, apparent magnitude-4.6, it also contains a faint cluster ngc 6603.

M 28, apparent magnitude- 7.66

Apparent from these and many more objects one can also see the limbs of the milky way galaxy which extends all the way to Scorpius. The picture below shows the exact location of the Messier objects.