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(meteorobs) comet linear splitting
from sky & telescope
COMET LINEAR SPLITS IN TWO
About a month ago, amateur astronomers around the world noticed that
Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) brightened significantly and somewhat
prematurely. In fact, during the last week of March the comet went
from magnitude 13 to 8 in a matter of days -- a hundredfold increase
in brightness. By April 25th, Mike Begbie of Harare, Zimbabwe, could
even see the comet with his naked eye.
Early predictions suggested that the comet was never going to be
brighter than 9th, even then not until a month after it reached
perihelion (its closest point to the Sun) on May 24th. Professional
and amateur astronomers alike were perplexed as to what could have
caused the sudden outburst. Now they believe they have their answer.
Observations taken April 30th with the Catalina 1.54-meter telescope
on Mount Bigelow, Arizona, by C. W. Hergenrother, M. Chamberlin, and
Y. Chamberlain (University of Arizona) clearly show that Comet LINEAR
has broken into two pieces. Currently, the fragments are separated by
some 3.5 arcseconds and together are as bright as magnitude 6.3. It
seems likely that the sudden brightening resulted from the initial
split, says Charles Morris (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
This certainly isn't the first time a naked-eye comet has broken up on
its approach to the inner solar system. Last year the crumbling of
Comet LINEAR (C/1999 S4) was noted by amateur and professional
astronomers using instruments ranging from backyard telescopes to the
Hubble Space Telescope.
See the Special Sky Events page
(http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/0105skyevents.shtml ) for
LINEAR's predicted location and brightness throughout
May. Currently, the comet is visible only from the Southern
Hemisphere, high in the west after sunset. Coordinates for
Comet LINEAR at 0 hours Universal Time for the coming week:
R.A. Dec.
May 5 5h 51m -17.8 deg.
May 7 5 50 -18.6
May 9 5 48 -19.4
May 11 5 46 -20.2
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