March 23, 2002

Comet Sighting!



Comet Ikeya-Zhang, discovered by two amateur astronomers in February, can be seen streaking across skies over the Northern Hemisphere for the next several weeks, scientists said on Thursday. No telescope is needed, but binoculars are recommended. To find the comet, look in the western sky shortly after sunset and locate the
planet Mars -- that will be a red point of light about 18 degrees up from the horizon. To the right of Mars are two bright stars in a nearly vertical line. The comet is at the same height as Mars, to the right of the two bright stars about as far again as the distance from Mars to the stars.



Observers should be able to see the comet's bright, star-like nucleus surrounded by a fuzzy cloud of dust and gas called the coma. The comet's tail streaks points nearly straight up from the horizon.



The comet should be visible in the west-northwestern sky for several hours after sunset for the next few weeks. On this trip, the comet came closest to the sun on March 18 and now is headed back into deep space. (from Yahoo News)








New: added seven more baby lampeye killies to the tank. The cat is verrrrrrry pleased, and is celebrating by licking his balls.









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