That's Not Green Slime From Space: It's Comet Lulin!

When you consider how many telescopes are pointed at the sky and how many top notch astronomers dedicate their lives to discovering new heavenly bodies, it may come as quite a surprise to find out that Comet Lulin was first plucked from the sky by a 19 year old Chinese student named Quanzhi Ye. Ye made this phenomenal discovery on July 11, 2007 after studying images taken by astronomer Chi Sheng Lin at Lulin Observatory. What makes this all the more remarkable is that the discovery of Comet Lulin represents a collaboration between China and Taiwan, something that happens almost as rarely as the discovery of a new comet.

As best is known, Comet Lulin is making its first trip into the recesses of the inner solar system, at least as far as astronomical records indicate. If you don't take this current opportunity to witness this comet you better make plans to cryogenically freeze yourself like Fry on Futurama for a thousand years. It will be at least that long, and possibly longer, before what might be termed the wicked witch of the comets drops by for a return visit.

Comet Lulin has been visible with telescopes for the past few months, but some people have been reporting seeing it with the naked eye since late January. Lulin will achieve peak brightness on February 24th, 2009, and should be visible with the naked eye to most people located away from bright city lights. Finding Comet Lulin when it reaches its greatest point of visibility will be aided greatly by its position in the sky at that point. Lulin will be found just below Saturn and in the constellation of Leo.

Comet Lulin presents a number of distinctive features that makes it truly worth getting up early in the morning to catch. Comet Lulin is moving at such a high velocity that viewers using a telescope will able to actually witness the motion of the comet against the background stars; a very rare and exciting treat, indeed. Lulin's green glow is caused by the presence of cyanogen and diatomic carbon in its nucleus. On February 4th, 2009, Comet Lulin experienced what is known as a disconnect event when its tail was torn away as a result of a disturbance in the magnetic field. Other unusual aspects of Comet Lulin are that it is traveling in the opposite direction of the rotation of the planets and that it has two tails.

Once Comet Lulin passes it peak visibility it will be making a quick exist. By early March Lulin will be just a faint smudge in the star cluster Beehive in the constellation of Cancer. By the middle of March it will be visible only with telescopes and will quickly disappear from sight not long afterward.