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Credit: Mike Holloway
Explanation:
A comet discovered last year has brightened unexpectedly and now may become visible
to the unaided eye within the next month.
Designated Comet C/2003 K4 (LINEAR), the comet was discovered in
2003 May by project
LINEAR.
Many reports already place the comet as brighter than
magnitude 7, meaning that it can now be seen with binoculars.
Reports also indicate the comet already has a
visible tail nearly the length of a
full Moon.
Since predicting the
future brightness of comets is a very
tricky business, there remains the possibility that
K4 might never become very bright.
Current
predictions, however, estimate the comet may
approach fifth magnitude in October.
K4 passes
closest to the Sun on October 12 and then closest to the Earth
on December 23.
Comet K4 was photographed above from Van Buren,
Arkansas,
USA on August 17.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet - LINEAR
Publications with words: comet - LINEAR
See also: