3:10 PM | A comet, eclipse and a full moon will light up the skies Friday night (weather permitting)
Paul Dorian
Comet 45P as seen in 2011
Overview
There will be a lot going on in the sky on Friday night, February 10th, including a pass by what is commonly referred to as the green comet. In addition, there will be a penumbral eclipse and a full moon on the same night. All of this, of course, depends on clear skies and on that front, the prospects are iffy.
Loop available at spaceweather.com
Full Moon/Eclipse
The full moon rises a little after 6pm on Friday night. This full moon is known as the “snow moon” which is appropriate since February is on average the snowiest month in the US. Shortly after the full moon rises, people along the east coast will be able to observe a penumbral lunar eclipse, when the sun, moon and earth all align. Unlike a total eclipse, in which the Earth casts a cone-shaped shadow, or umbra, that blacks out the moon, the effect of a penumbral eclipse is more subtle. The face of the moon will slowly darken several shades over time as it passes through the penumbra, the more diffuse area on the edge of the shadow cone. Some people may not even notice the subtle shading. The period of greatest eclipse in North America will take place at 7:44pm eastern time. The best spots to view this particular eclipse are in Europe, Africa, Greenland and Iceland where the entire eclipse will last four hours and 20 minutes. Anyone hoping for a more impressive eclipse will have to wait until August 21 when the first total solar eclipse will be visible from all of the United States for the first time in 99 years.
More recent image of Comet 45P (without its tail)
Comet 45P
If the early evening sky show isn’t enough, there will be another event after midnight that will require binoculars. Comet 45P (a.k.a., New Year Comet and green comet) will be visible (weather permitting) with binoculars in the pre-dawn hours when it passes through the constellation Hercules. This comet was discovered by astronomers in 1948 and it will pass 7.4 million miles from Earth - which is closer than at any time since 2011. The comet is unusual in that it has an emerald green color, likely caused by the evaporation of diatomic carbon. Early reports on the comet indicate it has undergone some changes since it was last observed. It is three times dimmer and seems to have lost its tail. On Dec. 31, 2016, the comet slingshot around the sun inside the orbit of Venus and solar heating might have vaporized so much material from the comet's icy core that there is insufficient material left for a flamboyant tail. For the same reason, the comet may have dimmed considerably. It last flew by in 2011 and will return in 2022, heading out toward Jupiter before heading back in and around the sun. The comet should rise just before 1 a.m. Saturday. Look to the East-Northeast as it rises in the vicinity of the constellation Hercules and moves up the horizon to the East until sunrise after 6 a.m.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Vencore, Inc.
vencoreweather.com