Comet C/2012 K5 (Linear): a Christmas’ gift
Comet C/2012 K5. 20 Dec. 2012, 01:40 UT
While Christmas is definitely in the air, comet C/2012 K5 is putting a nice show over there. Nothing bright, unfortunately, but something you can still enjoy with a small telescope or image with a digital camera and its ordinary lenses.
This comet was discovered on 28 May 2012 by the Linear automated survey, New Mexico (USA). It is getting a bit closer to the Earth and will reach a minimum distance of about 45 millions of km by the end of the year, reaching mag. 8 or so.
The image above was remotely captured with the PlaneWave 17 robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope: eight frames, each integrated for 300 seconds, were averaged, while the Paramount ME tracked the apparent motion of the comet.
Support The Virtual Telescope Project!
Support us! Please, donate and receive an EXCLUSIVE image of the stunning COMET C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS and much more, specifically made for supporters like you!
(you can adjust the amount later)
