Your only chance to see a green, two-tailed comet named Catalina is almost over, as the comet makes its closest approach to Earth this weekend.
On Sunday, the comet, officially named C/2013 US10 will pass within 110 million kilometres of Earth (not very close — about 72 per cent of the distance between the Earth and the Sun) on its way to leave our solar system forever after a one-time visit.
At that point, it should be visible with binoculars above the end of the handle of the Big Dipper.
Comet Catalina should be visible with binoculars above the end of the handle of the Big Dipper when it makes its closest approach to Earth on Jan. 17. The comet location is indicated at 0 UT each day (7 p.m. of the previous day ET). (freestarcharts.com)
"Try looking in the wee hours after midnight, or before sunrise," recommends the astronomy news website EarthSky.
Following its closest approach, "its best days are then behind it. Catch it soon before it disappears forever!" suggests the astronomy website freestarcharts.com.
The comet has been visible with binoculars in the northern hemisphere before dawn since late November. Paul Klauninger of Lanark Highlands, Ont., captured a beautiful photo from his backyard on Dec. 20. He reported on spaceweather.com's Realtime Comet Gallery that the head of the comet was on the verge of being visible to the naked eye.
Paul Klauninger captured this image from Lanark Highlands, Ont., on Dec. 20. At that point, the head of the comet was 'just at naked eye threshold,' he wrote on spaceweather.com's Realtime Comet Gallery. (Paul Klauninger)
On Jan. 8, another photo was captured in eastern Ontario, by one of the organizers of Starfest, described as Canada's largest star party, and posted to Twitter.
here's #comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) in hazy skies this morning from my backyard @EpicCosmos @AstronomyMag http://pic.twitter.com/PqVRaupwku
— @Starfest2016
Comet Catalina, which is less than 20 kilometres across, was discovered in 2013 by the Tuscon, Ariz.-based Catalina Sky Survey, which looks for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. At first, it was thought to be a very large near-Earth asteroid. But astronomers soon realized it was actually a very long, near-parabolic orbit and observations with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope showed "modest cometary activity."
Astronomers think the comet originally came in from the Oort cloud, a region full of icy objects such as comets in the distant reaches of the solar system, after its orbit was perturbed by other objects. Now that it has swung past the sun, its current path is expected to permanently eject it from the solar system.
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