Post by Ephelia Tierney on Feb 11, 2017 17:06:35 GMT -5
If you just so happened to crane your neck skyward at night this week — or better yet, if you craned your neck downward to look in your telescope — you probably caught quite a show.
The night sky has been busy lately: A full moon, known by the Farmer's Almanac as a "Snow Moon" since it happened in February, took center stage on Friday night.
Nevertheless, it still got over shadowed by Earth — literally, as a matter of fact. For several hours in the early evening ET, the outer edge of Earth's shadow darkened the face of the moon for observers in most of the world.
Yet remarkably, even this rare moment didn't make for the week's main event.
That honor goes to the Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusáková, which has been streaking across the night sky this week. While the comet has been visible to astronomers for months, this weekend it has been making its closest approach to Earth — more than 7 million miles away.
In fact, Comet 45P's approach is Earth's closest encounter with a comet in more than 30 years, according to Scientific American.
To observers with telescopes, the comet stood in vivid green among the stars.
And to observers using time-lapse technology, like Slooh's worldwide system of telescopes, that light actually streaked across the sky — as it does in this image.
But if you have missed the comet entirely this week, have no fear: Slooh recorded its progress live on Friday night. You can track Comet 45P — even if a bit belatedly — in the video posted on the group's Facebook page.
All credit to NPR.
