[meteorite-list] Last Chance To See Comet Ikeya-Zhang

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:33 2004
Message-ID: <200203292113.NAA29569_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Contact: Martha J. Heil (818) 354-0850
       
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 29, 2002

LAST CHANCE TO SEE COMET IKEYA-ZHANG

     Night owls and early birds can catch a glimpse of Comet
Ikeya-Zhang as it passes by Earth in the next few weeks on its
four-century journey around the Sun.

     The comet passed closest to the Sun on March 18th, and is
now headed out of the solar system past Earth, passing closest
to us (just 37.5 million miles, or 60 million kilometers) on
April 29. To see the comet, look low in the western sky
during late evening twilight. The comet will get lower and
lower on the horizon until April 4; after that it will be
visible in the early morning sky in the east.

     "The comet is bright enough to see with the naked eye,
but having binoculars or even a small telescope will help
pinpoint its location," said Dr. Don Yeomans, head of NASA's
Near-Earth Objects Program Office at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

     Among the comet-watchers will be Dr. Michael Hicks, a
comet scientist from JPL. Hicks will use a telescope to study
the dust from Ikeya-Zhang, dust that comes from the very edges
of the solar system and has a sharply slanted orbit, compared
to the planets. The information he hopes to gather includes
the dust particles' size, temperature and composition.

     "Comet dust is some of the most pristine material from
the solar system's formation," said Hicks. "Studying comets
adds another little bit to the puzzle of how the solar system
came to be."

     Comets, clumps of rock and ice, were made when the solar
system formed 4.5 billion years ago from the same material
that made the planets and Sun. When its orbit takes it far
from the Sun, the low temperature of deep space keeps the
comet frozen. As the comet comes close to the Sun, it heats
up, emitting gases and the dust that reflects the Sun's rays
and makes the comet visible from Earth.

     Ikeya-Zhang, which was discovered in early February by a
Japanese and a Chinese astronomer, was likely seen in 1661 on
an earlier journey through the solar system.

     JPL, a division of the California Institute of
Technology, manages the Near-Earth Objects program for NASA's
Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. More information is
available at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

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Received on Fri 29 Mar 2002 04:13:51 PM PST