[meteorite-list] COMET SWAN (C/2006 M4)

[Sterling K. Webb]

Hi,

    This beautiful little green comet has just made its
fourth appearance in the Astronomy Picture of the Day:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

    If you miss catching the photo today, it will still 
be in the APOD archives under today's date. The 
three previous APOD images were all in the past 
thirty days, on October 4th, 19th, and 28th.

    The comet was discovered independently by List 
member Rob Matson and Michael Mattiazzo (of 
Austrailia) on Solar Wind ANisotropy images, which 
is why it isn't called Comet Matson-Mattiazzo, which 
would have been a euphonious name.

    You can catch the now-fading comet with biggish 
binoculars or a small telescope. It's in the middle of the 
constellation Hercules right now. A chart of its positions
by date can be found at:
http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2006M4/2006M4.html

    The other thing you need is a good view of the sky.
(I've had nine straight days of overcast and cloud cover.)


Sterling K. Webb
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