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a naked eye comet in march 2013

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presented by science at nasa

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far beyond the orbits of neptune and

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pluto where the sun is a pinprick of

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light not much brighter than other stars

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a vast swarm of icy bodies circles the

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solar system

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astronomers call it the oort cloud and

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it is the source of some of history's

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finest comets

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one of them is heading our way now

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pan stars was discovered by the

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panoramic survey telescope and rapid

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response system atop the haleakala

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volcano in hawaii

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astronomers used the massive 1.8 meter

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telescope to scan the heavens for

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approaching objects both asteroids and

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comets that might pose a danger to our

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planet

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in june 2011 a comet appeared and it was

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named pan stars after the acronym for

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the telescope

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in early march the comet will pass about

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100 million miles from earth as it

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briefly dips inside the orbit of mercury

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most experts expect it to become a naked

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eye object about as bright as the stars

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of the big dipper but says carl battams

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of the naval research lab prepare to be

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surprised a new comet from the oort

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cloud is always an unknown quantity

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equally capable of spectacular displays

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or dismal failures

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the oort cloud is named after 20th

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century dutch astronomer jan ort who

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argued that such a cloud must exist to

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account for all the fresh comets that

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fall through the inner solar system

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unaltered by warmth and sunlight the

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distant comets of the work cloud are

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like time capsules harboring frozen

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gases and primitive dusty material drawn

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from the original solar nebula 4.5

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billion years ago

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gravitational disturbances occasionally

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eject comets from the york cloud which

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fall toward the sun bringing their

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virgin ices with them

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because this is comet panstarr's first

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visit it has never been tested by the

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fierce heat and gravitational pull of

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the sun

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almost anything could happen says

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battams

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on one hand the comet could fall apart a

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fizzling disappointment

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on the other hand fresh veins of frozen

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material could open up to spew garish

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jets of gas and dust into the night sky

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because of its small distance from the

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sun penn star should be very active

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producing a lot of dust and therefore a

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nice dust tail predicts matthew knight

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of the lowell observatory

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however he cautions it could still be

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difficult to see

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from our point of view on earth the

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comet will be very close to the sun

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this means that it is only observable in

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twilight when the sky is not fully dark

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the best dates to look may be march 12th

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and 13th when pan stars emerges in the

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western sunset sky not far from the

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crescent moon

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a comet and the moon together framed by

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twilight blue as a rare sight

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my guess is that the primary feature

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visible to the naked eye will be the

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gaseous coma around the head of the

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comet says knight

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the comet's tail might require

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binoculars or a small telescope

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two other key dates are march 5th when

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the comet comes closest to earth about

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100 million miles away

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and march 10th when the comet comes

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closest to the sun

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the dose of solar heating it receives

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just inside the orbit of mercury could

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be just what the comet needs to push it

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into the realm of naked eye visibility

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comet pen star should not be confused

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with another even better comic coming

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later this year

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in november 2013 comet ison could shine

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as brightly as a full moon in broad

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daylight when it passes through the

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atmosphere of the sun

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two bright comets in one year is a rare

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treat says badams

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this could be good

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for updates on comets and other objects