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Comet visible in North-Western sky

by Karel Roberts Ratnaweera

A comet discovered jointly by a Chinese and a Japanese is now visible in the North-Western sky after sunset. Named Ikeye-Zhang after its discoverers, the comet appears only once in 367 years, Mrs. E.S Menike, Lecturer in Charge at the Colombo Planetarium told the 'Daily News.'

First seen in the year 1661, Ikeye-Zhang of the fourth magnitude is 47 million miles away from the Sun to which it came closest on the 25th of March. The comet has been visible from February 01 this year.

Ikeye-Zhang will appear at its brightest after poya day, March 28 as otherwise the brightness of the waxing moon will cause the comet to diminish in its brightness, Mrs. Menike said. She said that the comet will appear like a star in the night sky. The comet's dust tail will not appear as bright as its head.

Ikeye-Zhang which is visible 18 degrees above the North-Western horizon will appear in the North-Eastern night sky after two weeks, and will be visible after 4 a.m., fading as the sun rises. As it appears now, the comet is close to Mars which is identifable by its famous red hue.

There is a belief prevalent in Sri Lanka and possibly in some other countries as well, that it is unlucky to look at a comet. When the celebrated Halley's comet appeared in 1985, after 75 years, many people refrained from looking at it. The planetarium's lecturer in charge dismissed the superstition, but pointed out that a comet was seen shortly before the death of Julius Caesar in 44BC.

Ikeye-Zhang will move closest to the planet Earth on April 29, 2002.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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