New Comet/Eclipse

[Christina]

NEW COMET LOVEJOY: On March 15th, Terry Lovejoy of Thornlands, Australia, discovered a new comet (C/2007 E2) in the southern constellation Indus. Remarkably, to make the find he used not a telescope but just a camera--a Canon 350D. At Lovejoy's request, John Drummund of Gisborne, New Zealand, confirmed the comet with this photo taken through a 0.41-m reflector: The new comet is green, 9th-magnitude, and located approximately at right ascension 20h 42m 55s, declination -50o 43' 14" (ref: International Astronomical Union Circular 8819). A detailed ephemeris is not yet available, so it is impossible to say how bright Comet Lovejoy will become--or even which way it will go. Stay tuned for updates. ................................................................................SOLAR ECLIPSE: On March 19th around 0230 UT, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun, producing a partial solar eclipse visible from Russia, India, China and the northern reaches of Alaska. In those places the normally-round Sun will turn into a crescent and cast strangely-curved shadows on the ground.