Green | January 26, 2009 | 16 comments

"Two-Tailed" comet nearing Earth

source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/090126-comet-lulin.html

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A fresh new face has moved into our neighborhood, but once it swings by Earth next month, it may never come back.

Comet Lulin is currently sailing through the inner solar system and is getting closer to our home planet, with its nearest approach expected in late February.

Comet Lulin is arriving from the far reaches of the solar system on a nearly parabolic orbit—it's almost as if it comes from infinity and goes back out to infinity.

This means Lulin could be on its first pass by the sun, so the comet should still be encrusted in "fresh" ices preserved by the freezing environment of the outer solar system.

As the object is exposed to the sun's heat for the first time, those ices will vaporize, possibly causing the comet to brighten rapidly or even break apart.

What's more, the comet's orbit is in nearly the same plane as Earth's but is traveling in the opposite direction. This causes Lulin to appear to move unusually fast and display a rare anti-tail—an optical effect that creates a secondary "tail" pointing toward the sun.
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