Eyes on the Sky Logo
Eyes on the Sky
with David Fuller
Comet Hergonrother

Hergenrother: Going to pieces (literally)

November 05, 2012

couple weeks ago "Eyes on the Sky" highlighted the path of Comet Hergenrother as it passed through Pegasus, given that the comet had unexpectedly brightened from a barely-visible 15th-magnitude to a visible-in-many-small-scopes 10th-magnitude.  Now it appears a bit more obvious why it brightened up so much: Comet Hergenrother is breaking up.

According to Astronomy Magazine:

"Comet Hergenrother is splitting apart," said Rachel Stevenson from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Using the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's Gemini North Telescope on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, we have resolved that the nucleus of the comet has separated into at least four distinct pieces, resulting in a large increase in dust material in its coma." 

I found a comet tracking chart for Hergenrother here at AstronomyNow, which shows where the comet will be out to early January.  Let me know in the comments if you see this comet again, and your estimates of magnitudes.

Comet Hergonrother

Share This
Tags
  • comet