I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but i didnt see any thread thst deals with discoveries
Over the next few weeks, one of the most beautiful comets we’ve ever discovered, Comet Catalina, will pass by Earth in what’s expected to be its first and only visit to the inner Solar System. More info below...

And while its closest flyby for those in the Northern Hemisphere will be on 17 January 2016, you might want to stash some binoculars in your bag on New Year’s Day - on 1 January, Comet Catalina is expected to move within 0.4 degrees (less than the apparent width of the Moon) of Arcturus - one of the brightest stars in the sky. If ever there were a ridiculous space photography moment, this is it.

Whenever you choose to look up, just make sure you’ve got some help. Comet Catalina should be pretty bright, and against really dark skies you might be able to spot it with the naked eye, but it’s best to be prepared and take some binoculars or a little telescope with you on your skywatching trip.





The best time to spot it will be late at night on 17 January, when it’ll be about 100,000,000 kilometres away. That sounds like a whole lot, but that’s actually pretty close for a comet. Once it hits its closest point, it’ll draw away from Earth, becoming increasingly hard to see, so make that your deadline!

Oh and bad news for our Southern Hemisphere readers - if you haven't seen Comet Catalina this year already, it's too late now. Better hop on a plane quick-smart!

As astronomer Phil Plait says over at Slate, what makes this comet so special is that because of a trick of perspective, Comet Catalina looks like it’s got two tails pointing in different directions.

One’s made from gas and the other from dust, and because of the angle from which those in the Northern Hemisphere will be viewing it, it looks like tail is shooting out in front of it and one behind. Have your cameras ready!

The other really cool thing is where Catalina has been for the past several million years. Plait explains:

"Catalina is coming from very deep space, probably out in the Oort cloud - the vast repository of icy bodies far, far beyond the orbit of Neptune. Its orbit may have originally been millions of years long!

But something gave it a kick - perhaps a star that passed a couple of light years away a million years ago, or the tides from the galaxy itself - and dropped it toward the Sun. This kick also gave it a teeny bit more energy, just enough added speed that it achieved escape velocity. That means it has enough energy to escape from the Sun altogether, and is on its way out of the Solar System forever (this is technically called a hyperbolic orbit)."

So don’t let this one go - you’ve got one shot this month, and then it’s gone forever. Get your cameras, binoculars, and telescopes ready, and if New Year’s Day is becoming all too stressful because you don’t know what to do when with whom, just tell everyone you’re spending it with Comet Catalina and make sure you see this with a friend or family.

http://techmandy..com.ng/2015/12/nows-your-last-chance-to-see-comet.html

Wow.! One of the most beautiful comets ever discovered.!
What is it's perihelion? How close is it coming?

awesome.... be vigilant at that time.

Dis one dier saying night,i hope we see it here in Nigeria to in the night.lalasticalala

daamazing:
Dis one dier saying night,i hope we see it here in Nigeria to in the night. lalasticalala

I hope so too ooo.
Hopefully, it won't be like the last blood moon, where we had to watch the sky till 1:00am and didn't see nothing because the sky was too cloudy.

fabulous660:
awesome.... be vigilant at that time.

I hope to see this one like I saw the blood moon.

Prof800, I see you!

Feraz:
I hope to see this one like I saw the blood moon.

Prof800, I see you!

Feraz..!
Don't tell me you saw the blood moon ooo.
If you did, then you probably were in the northern part of the country by then. I was in the southeast by then and it was too cloudy to see anything.

prof800:

Feraz..!
Don't tell me you saw the blood moon ooo.
If you did, then you probably were in the northern part of the country by then. I was in the southeast by then and it was too cloudy to see anything.

Very correct sir!

I followed the lunar eclipse when it started at about 1am, peaked at about 3:47am (the blood moon) and ended at about 5am.

Feraz:
Very correct sir!

I followed the lunar eclipse when it started at about 1am, peaked at about 3:47am (the blood moon) and ended at about 5am.

That same 1am, I was outside staring at the cloudy sky like an ancient occultist and waiting for something to show, until my neighbour then came out and asked if I was performing rituals. hehehe..


If you can follow the lunar eclipse that way, then I'm sure that by now, you would already have your binoculars or even telescope preparing for Comet Catalina.
Sharp guy!

prof800:

That same 1am, I was outside staring at the cloudy sky like an ancient occultist and waiting for something to show, until my neighbour then came out and asked if I was performing rituals. hehehe..


If you can follow the lunar eclipse that way, then I'm sure that by now, you would already have your binoculars or even telescope preparing for Comet Catalina.
Sharp guy!

I even called two people that morning on phone to come outside to check it.

For where? I go try see whether my eyes fit see am. If in no work, I go zoom!

prof800:

That same 1am, I was outside staring at the cloudy sky like an ancient occultist and waiting for something to show, until my neighbour then came out and asked if I was performing rituals. hehehe..


If you can follow the lunar eclipse that way, then I'm sure that by now, you would already have your binoculars or even telescope preparing for Comet Catalina.
Sharp guy!

can i get a telescope in Nigeria. Even a binoculars.

Lalasticlala will NEVER move this to FP


If na Davido and Sophia, he will move it o.

Yeye mods. . . . I gave up on NL long ago

Wonder. JAn 17, it's a date!