Clusters, Hartley, and the Heart
10/15/10
Comet Hartley 2 flew through the night sky on Oct. 8th passing close to the famous double star cluster in Perseus. This view spans about 7 degrees and you can see a greenish comet and the clusters h and Chi Persei at the left! It extends across the constellation boundary into Cassiopeia all the way to the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). You can see the faint reddish glow of the nebula's atomic hydrogen gas as a result of the use of narrow-band exposure. Mark you calendars! On Oct. 20th, the comet will make its closest approach to Earth passing within approximately 17 million kilometers!!!
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