* Home * Carnival of Space * Contact Us * Forum * Guide to Space * Subscribe Universe Today Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin – A Twist In The Tail by Tammy Plotner on February 1, 2009 Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin - J. Brimacombe Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin - J. Brimacombe When Chi-Sheng Lin of Taiwan’s Institute of Astronomy captured three images on July 11, 2007 with something strange in them, it was first believed he’d picked up just another asteroid . But, by July 17 astronomers in Table Mountain Observatory, California were noticing a coma 2-3″ across, with a bright central core . That’s not an asteroid… That’s a comet ! And now it’s a comet that’s doing something very strange… By the end of 2008, Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin had steadily began to brighten and now is within easy reach of binoculars for all observers. How bright is it? At last estimate it is between magnitude 6 and 7. That means just a little too faint to be seen unaided, but bright enough to be spotted easily with just the slightest of visual aids. Our own Nancy A. did an article on this not long ago! But there’s something going on with N3 Lulin, right now… Something very different. There’s a twist in the tail! Check this out… Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin (negative luminance) - J. Brimacombe Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin (negative luminance) - J. Brimacombe While imaging N3 Lulin for UT Readers, Dr. Joe Brimacombe used a negative luminance frame to take a closer look at what’s going on and discovered something quite out of the ordinary. First off, you’ll notice an anti-tail – quite rare in itself – but if you take a look about halfway down the ion /dust tail, you’ll see a very definite twist in the structure. It it rotating? Exactly what’s causing it? Torsional stress? Is it possible that the kink in the tail is an instability resulting from currents flowing along the tail axis? Right now there’s absolutely no information available about what’s going on in the tail – because what you’re seeing is perhaps one of the most current pictures of the comet that can be found! Chart Courtesy Heaven's Above Chart Courtesy Heaven's Above If you’re interested in viewing Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin for yourself and would like some help locating it, there’s a wonderful resource that’s easy to use. Just go to Chris Peet’s Heaven’s Above website and make use of the tools there. It will give you easy to follow charts and all you need is just a pair of binoculars to spot this comet for yourself. Don’t sit inside… Do it! /My sincere thanks to Dr. Joseph Brimacombe of Northern Galactic for not only his superb imaging – but his sublime sense of curiosity which caught this anomaly!/ { 23 comments } ← Previous Comments ( . )( . ) February 4, 2009 at 12:33 pm <#comment-52600> my dick is bigger than that thing Bill Davis February 5, 2009 at 7:34 am <#comment-52734> I appreciate the comments. Spinning is a plausible conjecture. There is, however, enough evidence in other forms to have convinced me…a mainstream “believer” for most of my 50 years…that the activity of comets is electric/plasma. Such as…the activity of comets/asteroids very far from the sun; their peculiar interaction with the solar wind close in, such as the complete temporary “tearing” of the tail from the comet; the sudden disintegration of comets, but not at closest approach to the sun when the mechanical stresses would be greatest; the collimated antitail; the correspondence of the surfaces of comets with the appearance of electic discharge machining; the entirely anomalous – from the conventional view – behaviour of comet Holmes in 07-08. The latter is a succinct demonstration of the explosion and repair of a plasma double layer (the coma) as it went from elliptical to jellyfish appearance and then to a perfect sphere many times the diamater of the sun, and whose appearance and retention cannot be attributed to the tiny gravity of the nucleus. From a conventional heating point of view there is no plausible explanation for Holmes’ behavior. robbi February 7, 2009 at 12:45 am <#comment-53041> I’ve learned much about why comets appearance as so unique. I am now certain of activities of comets as a electrical/plasma phenomena. After seeing the activity of awesome Comet McNaught in Jan2007, and the relatively quick changes that were happening, I was wondering why there was no reports of higher aurora activites. I was stumped as thinking about conventional thinking of the ‘solar wind’ did not make sense but then I forgot about it. Comet Holmes IMHO collided with a ‘chip’ from a asteroid/comet and such violent activity caused an incredible amount of electrical/plasma activity the brilliance was of intensity that the Suns’ solar wind at that distance was incapable of doing alone. I’ve learned much about how electric/plasma activity can have on comets and other objects I have to question some conventional thinking of Astronomy, but still stick to the point where no-advanced living life-forms can leave the protective ‘ cocoon ‘ heliosphere of their home main sequence G or K stars,but my thinking may be counter to ‘conventional Astronomer’ thinking humans can leave the confines of their stars heliosphere. ← Previous Comments Comments on this entry are closed. 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