Western University to host viewing party for once in a lifetime phenomenon
It may be green in appearance but it isn’t envy that gives this comet its unique colour.
“Comets are usually white or blue. This one has a different colour,” says Paul Wiegert, professor of astronomy at Western University. “It's caused by a molecule which doesn't exist here really on earth. It's called dicarbon, but it can exist out in space. And some comets produce a lot of dicarbon and have this green colour and others don't.”
This comet was discovered in March 2022, and while it orbits the sun like earth, it takes thousands of years to make a single pass.
Comets like this may have been responsible for delivering water to early earth, and contain important clues about the chemistry of star and planet birth, Wiegert explains.
“We sometimes say that it's like a chocolate cake. There's a lot of ingredients that went into this chocolate cake. But the earth doesn't look very much like its ingredients anymore in the same way that a chocolate cake doesn't look like eggs or flour or sugar or anything like that.”
While the comet will be visible with the use of binoculars or small telescopes next week, Western’s Hume Croyn Memorial Observatory is holding a free open house Saturday, Jan. 28 that will reveal a much better image as long as the clouds stay away.
“If the weather does cooperate and we don't have too many clouds, we'll be pointing some telescopes at this comet. Fingers crossed that we get good weather,” says Wiegert
The comet will be most visible on Feb. 1, but will still be visible in the days before and after that point if clouds are persistent.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.