Comet Honda speeds past Earth today, joins Comet Elenin this Fall
| Published on August 15, 2011 3:05 am PT – By Dave Tole – Writer – Article Editor and Approved – Warren Miller |
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(TheWeatherSpace.com) — Comet Honda is expected to pass by the Earth today above the South Pole at a distance of only 5.6 million miles.
This is about 23 times the distance from Earth to the moon. Will the comet cause an effects on our planet? Probably not, but Earth may actually alter this 0.6 mile across rock some.
The coma extends out to 43,000 miles and is currently a magnitude 8.0 in the Southern skies. The coma from Earth is half the width of the Full moon, which makes it a large night sky object for favored Southern observers.
On October 7th of 2011 (this year), Comet Honda will brighten to a magnitude 5 in the constellation Leo and favor a horizon view before sunrise for Northern sky observers.
That is not all, Comet Honda will join Comet Elenin and both will be visible on that morning in the same wide field of view in Binoculars and camera lenses, a rare treat with two comets at once!
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