MÉRIDA.- From the Yucatan Peninsula the passage of the comet Atlas C / 2019 Y4 will be observed, whose closest approach to Earth will be recorded on Saturday 23, being visible one hour before sunrise, reported Yucatecan astronomer Eddie Ariel Salazar Gamboa.
“The comet will be seen with the naked eye during this week, if atmospheric conditions allow it, but especially next Saturday 23, when it reaches its perigee, that is, its closest point to Earth,” he said.
He indicated that on that day, the bolide will be 0.78 Astronomical Units (AU) from us, that is, 117 million kilometers.
He defined UA as the average distance from the Sun to Earth, which is approximately 150 million km.
He commented that on that day, the comet will leave at 5:26 a.m., it will be in the constellation of Perseus, the Moon will be in its New phase and the Sun will appear at 6:21 a.m., so it will be visible for about an hour .
Even, it will have a stellar magnitude of 0.97, so it will be appreciated with the naked eye, without the need for binoculars or telescopes.
He recalled that said star was discovered on December 28, 2019 by the ATLAS-2 Telescope, from Hawaii, United States, which is a fragment of the Great Comet C / 1844 Y1, of quasi-parabolic orbit with a period of about five thousand 500 years.
Since last March the accelerated increase in brightness began, so that next Friday 29 it will have a magnitude of -0.27, and from that day it will begin to dim.
Salazar Gamboa commented that from next Saturday the 23rd it will start to move away from the Earth, and on Sunday the 31st it will have its perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, at a distance of 0.25 AU, that is, at 37.5 million kilometers.
Between the 30th and 31st of the current month, it will be in the constellation Taurus, and will not be appreciated, due to its proximity to the Sun.
Finally, the professor emeritus of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (Uady) expressed that he will not be seen again, since its orbit is almost parabolic.
Source: yucatanahora.mx
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