New Scientist: Hail the Returning Comet

Here’s a well-framed shot of the night sky from high above the Atacama Desert in Chile as 2011 nears its end. I choose to take it as an omen of hope and optimism. New Scientist picked it up from the European Southern Observatory. Lensman Guillaume Blanchard caught the scene as little and thoroughly roasted Comet Lovejoy (see earlier post) preceded the dawn sun into the sky, the Milky Way high above (looks like a Magellanic Cloud on the right?), and a unit of the Very Large Telescope hunkers in the foreground. I amped this small version with the auto-correct. Its subtle majesty is better, on larger format, when viewed as it was published. Here is that in hi def. Follow the link to see more images that New Scientist provides, including a video of the comet shot from the International Space Station, and another time-lapse loop, featuring the comet and the telescope’s red laser adaptive optics beam, during dawn at ESO’s Cerro Paranal.

Grist for the Mill: ESO Press Release ;

– Charlie Petit