via One-Minute Astronomer by admin on 9/21/10
Yet another respectably-bright comet is nearing Earth and will put on a good show for binocular observers. Comet Hartley 2 will be visible in Cassiopeia and Perseus over the next few weeks, and may grow bright enough to see with the unaided eye as it comes within 11 million miles of Earth, one of the closest approaches of any comet in the past century.
Comet Hartley 2 is a periodic comet, returning to its closest approach with the sun every six years. It was first detected by Malcolm Hartley in March of 1986 at the U.K. Schmidt Telescope in Siding Spring, Australia. This is Hartley's second comet discovery, hence the name "Hartley 2" Ler mais
