Comet Lovejoy continues to burn. Currently in the Corona Borealis it is
dimming from its earlier appearance in Leo. Nevertheless, the comet is
still fun to follow as he moves through the different star fields.
Today's ephemeris are:RA 16 05 08 and the Declination is +34 41 55
What
do the numbers mean? RA stands for Right Ascension. That designation
refers to longitudinal lines superimposed on the sky. In other words,
the numbers given are written in hours, minutes and seconds.
Yes,
you've guessed right--Declination is equivalent to latitude and is
written in degrees. The listed positions puts the comet squarely between Kappa and Tau, the two stars on the upper border of the Corona.
Both stars shine at nearly 5th magnitude. The comet itself is dimmer.
If you would like to follow the ephemeris which are calculated cometary
orbits here is the link:
http://in-the-sky.org/cometephem.php?obj=ck13r010
Here's a page of Edmund's Mag 6 Star chart. It shows the RA and Dec. The pencil marks are the comet's position as seen two days ago.
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