8P/Tuttle
The appearance of periodical comet 8P/Tuttle will be the most favourable until now because of its 55º inclination (see below animation). For observers on the northern hemisphere it will be visible during November 2007 as a faint object nearby Polaris in Ursa Minor. During December 2007 the comet will become brighter and will reach probably magnitude 5-6 by the end of December 2007. On December 30st comet 8P/Tuttle will present a spectacular show by passing in front on the Pinwheel Galaxy (scroll down for more info).
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Path of comet 8P/Tuttle |
| December 28th 2007 |
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Comet 8P/Tuttle in Andromeda, the comet is about magnitude 6 has a bright core and a diffuse coma. |
Comet 8P/Tuttle, north is left in Andromeda |
The comet is nearby Earth and therefore traveling very fast across the skies. In below image the comet moved 10,5 arc minutes across the sky (1 hour time frame). The distance to earth is 0.255 AE which means that comet 8P/Tuttle currently has an orbital velocity of about 45700 km/hr.
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Movement of comet 8P/Tuttle, north is left (mouse over for description) |
Animation
© Copyright Rob Kantelberg
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