Comet Lulin

Well it is time to bid Comet Lulin a fond farewell. It has indeed been a fantastic comet. Above is a composite of a series of images taken about one week after Lulin's closest approach to earth. At magnitude 6.3, the comet is getting fainter. Note the ion tail is nearly invisible in this image as it is mostly behind the comet pointing away from earth as well as behind the dust tail. Also note there are a group of galaxies in the middle of the image the largest of which is NGC 3020. Comet Lulin will continue to become fainter as it leaves the inner solar system. Its orbit is nearly parabolic it so will not return in our lifetime, but it will rejoin is brethren of icy worlds at our Sun's Oort cloud, thought to be material remaining from the formation of the solar system and extending some 5 to 20 trillion miles from us.

Optics:	Takahashi FS102 (102mm flourite lens, F8.2, 836mm F.L.)	Date:	February 28, 2009
Camera:	SBIG ST10XME with Adaptive Optics	Location:	Columbus, Texas
Exposure:	LRGB = 100:100:100:100 minutes	Imager:	Kent E. Biggs