Comet 103P/Hartley 2 for the noob.

I have been reading about this thing and I guess it is getting closer to earth as we speak. I would love to go outside and be able to take a look at it. I read where it is close to the constellation Auriga but I have no idea where that is. I looked at some online star charts but I am still confused. Will I be able to just look up towards the northwest and see it?

I found a link on it from MSN but the link with the map of the location does not load in my browser.
]Sky Map Display

If it helps at all I am facing north in Georgia.

reply to post by Nexdominus
i have never heard of that constellation before is it a constellation or a star system?

Originally posted by ella19
reply to post by Nexdominus

 

i have never heard of that constellation before is it a constellation or a star system?

I don't know I will have to look it up. I have no idea about stuff other then the big dipper and stuff like that. I will post again.

Auriga

It says its brightest star is Capella

auriga is the chariot driver of the skies, the myth says that auriga was lame and invented the four horse chariot for mobility, this act earned him a place in the heavens. auriga is best viewd in the colder months at around 9:00 pm during december. Auriga shares a star with the constellation taurus which is located to the south east on auriga. Hope this was helpful.

reply to post by Nexdominus


Look directly above Orion:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/48a60f69a38d.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by defcon5
reply to post by Nexdominus

 

Look directly above Orion:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/48a60f69a38d.jpg[/atsimg]

That is one I can find! Thanks

Unfortunately, Comet 103P/Hartley 2 is very faint. Even though it's at closest approach in the next couple of days (~10 million miles), it doesn't get brighter than 10th magnitude, which means you'd need a pretty good telescope to see it. By comparison, Neptune - which is 250 times further away - is almost twice as bright and still not naked-eye visible.

reply to post by Saint Exupery


My buddy said they were looking at it early Monday morning. He said you could see a blob of light where it was and you could see it a bit better with just a pair of binoculars. He has a neighbor who has a really cool telescope that invited us over to take a look at early in the morning on Thursday but it is not looking to good for us now. It is overcast with a pretty low ceiling. Maybe this stuff will move out but it does not look like it will.