Comet Lulin: Sketches, videos, and photos from WAS members

No, Comet Lulin (the APOD of the year) has not left our skies, but it has faded considerably and will start to (apparently) slow down now that it has passed Earth by. Her prime is past already. Luckily, some WAS members have documented her visit nicely!

As documented in this month's WASP, the research team of Phipps, Hall, and Kade first observed Comet Lulin at Stargate on February 21. Their story can be backed up by referring to the sketch Jonathan made that night:


WAS resident macular imager extraordinaire Jerry Kuchera was next out of the gate with this sketch, made the night of Saturn's conjunction with Comet Lulin, February 23:

Jonathan sketched it the following nights as well, when Michigan was clouded over. It was really moving quickly the night of the 24th. Here it is on the 25th, under the vast constellation of Leo.

Dave D'Onofrio, one of the star WAS astrophotographers, captured this beautiful image of Lulin on February 28, combining four individual images.


The trailing stars indicate how fast this comet is moving. He says, "The picture was taken from Dearborn Heights using my 12" LX200 at f6.3 and the ST2000 camera. They consist of 4 one minute shots taken consecutively. The short animation is just the sequence of the shots representing 4 minutes of elapsed time."

Here is a video showing each frame separately:


Jerry also sketched it the same night.

Yes, it took a lot of observing time in the cold, cold February climate to document Lulin so well, but since she won't be coming back for more than a millennium if ever, I for one think it was quite worthwhile.