The Comet 168P will brighten the sky this week! – Science



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A spectacular comet show awaits all observers on Thursday night!

A huge comet called Comet 168P / Hergenrother will cross the night sky and shine bright. Before going fishing with your telescopes, this heavenly event will be visible to the naked eye and requires no expensive equipment to view it.

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Comet 168P / Hergenrother and when and where you can see it:

168P / Hergenrother is a periodic comet of the solar system, discovered for the first time in 1998. The comet is currently in the constellation Perseus. It is located 170,558,355 kilometers from the Earth. It is considered that it rises and sets at times when its upper limb touches the horizon, as atmospheric refraction comes into play.

This simplified sky map shows the current position of the 168P / Hergenrother comet in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations.

The sky live

Comet 168P / Hergenrother arrived at perihelion in October 2012 after releasing an explosion of gas and dust, which allowed the comet to be briefly 500 times brighter than if it had not occurred. It also experienced a fragmentation event in 2012, as images taken by the Faulkes North telescope showed a cloud of dust trailing the comet's core.

The comet would be at a distance of 1.37 AU from the Sun and at a distance of 1.13 AU from the Earth on Thursday night. For those currently in the UK, the comet will be visible at around 9:15 pm BST and will disappear around 4:25 am on Friday morning.

For the rest of the world, you have every chance to spot the comet if you look right over the horizon is around 9:15 pm BST (3:45 pm). You could tell her Comet 168P / Hergenrother if she looks like a shining star, with a tail light behind her.

SEE ALSO: Neptune's smallest moon may have been created by comets

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