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New Comet May Put on a Show Next Year


http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/10/13b.html

New Comet May Put on a Show Next Year
SpaceViews
October 13, 1999

A comet discovered last month may become bright enough to be visible to the
naked eye come the middle of next year, although it is unlikely to be as
brilliant as two other comets visible this decade.

Comet C/1999 S4 LINEAR was discovered last month by the LINEAR automated
telescope in New Mexico as part of an asteroid and comet search program.
First classified as an asteroid when discovered, followup observations by
other astronomers revealed a distinct fuzzy coma around the body, evidence
that the object is a comet.

Based on 18 observations in late September, astronomers at the Minor Planet
Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory calculated a parabolic,
highly-inclined trajectory for the comet, passing about 0.75 AU (112 million
km, 70 million mi.) from the Sun at its closest approach in late July.

While the comet is very dim at the moment -- about magnitude 16, requiring
moderate to large telescopes to see it -- it will brighten considerably as
it approaches the Sun. Taking into account both the comet's distance from
the Earth and the Sun, it may brighten to as much as magnitude 3 or 4 and
thus be visible to the naked eye by July.

Predicting the brightness of comets is difficult, as it is hard to estimate
in advance not only the size of the comet but how much gas and dust it will
produce as it approaches the Sun and warms up. However, current indications
are that the comet will not be anywhere as bright as comet Hyakutake in
March 1996 or Hale-Bopp one year later.

The best time to observe the comet will likely be in mid-July, when the
comet is near its peak brightness. It will be seen in the northwest sky
after sunset in the northern hemisphere.

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