Comets

An odd, greenish, backward-flying comet is zipping by Earth this month, as it takes its only trip toward the sun from the farthest edges of the solar system. The comet is called Lulin, and there's a chance it can be seen with the naked eye, but you'll most likely need a telescope, or at least binoculars, to spot it. It will be closest to Earth on Monday at 7:43 p.m. Pacific time.

A newly discovered comet could pass within 10 million miles of Earth in late March and might be bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, according to astronomers. "Comets are hard to predict, but this one could be very good for the Northern Hemisphere" because it will pass close to the celestial North Pole, said Brian G. Marsden, director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams at the International Astronomical Union in Cambridge, Mass.

I wonder how many of the people watching Comet Hyakutake cruise by our corner of the solar system last month bothered to wave and shout: "Hi, Mom!" Or more precisely: "Hi Great- Great- . . . Great-Grandma!" Certainly, many thousands of people came out to have a look--tens of thousands at Griffith Observatory alone, according to director Ed Krupp, who said it was a clear case of "mad comet disease." Three thousand even showed up on Oscar night.

Comet Hyakutake, which recently made a close pass by planet Earth on its way to the sun, has developed a bizarre crescent-shaped X-ray glow, scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Max Planck Institute in Germany said Thursday. This is the first time X-rays have ever been seen coming from a comet, which is essentially an ice-packed ball of soot dropping into the solar system from cold storage in space.

Waiting for Hyakutake The newly discovered comet that promises to be the brightest in decades will be visible to the naked eye. Chart is for the evening sky from tonight through April. 1. The comet rises about 8 tonight, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Saturday and at sundown after that. * Tips for Comet Gazing * Take advantage of local observatories and astronomical societies that may be holding "star parties."

The most spectacular comet in two decades, already visible to the naked eye, will grow brighter and closer over the next few days as it zips past the Earth. Named after the amateur Japanese sky-watcher who discovered it just a month and a half ago, Comet Hyakutake will come closest to Earth on Monday and remain part of the night sky throughout April.

The most spectacular comet in two decades, already visible to the naked eye, will grow brighter and closer over the next few days as it zips past the Earth. Named after the amateur Japanese sky-watcher who discovered it just a month and a half ago, Comet Hyakutake will come closest to Earth on Monday and remain part of the night sky throughout April.

Comet Hyakutake is expected to pass within 10 million miles of Earth on March 25 and astronomers predict that it will be 0.7 magnitude, easily making it bright enough to see from any city. "If the brightness holds, it will be the intrinsically brightest comet to pass so close to the Earth since 1556," said Brian G. Marsden of the International Astronomical Union in Cambridge, Mass.

The Hubble Space Telescope has detected a previously unseen population of at least 200 million mountain-size comets orbiting in a flattened ring, perhaps 90 billion miles in diameter, that encircles the sun, Earth and the eight other planets. The astronomers who announced the discovery Wednesday said it confirms decades-old theories about the origins of comets--dazzling objects with fuzzy heads and long tails that sweep periodically through Earth's field of vision.

Less than four months ago, warehouseman Thomas Bopp was laboring in obscurity on the night shift at a paving materials company. He spent his weekends stargazing through the telescopes of friends in the Arizona desert 50 miles west of the Phoenix city lights. Then, just before midnight July 22, he peered through the eyepiece of a telescope that a friend had made of birch boards and aluminum tree-trimming tubes. There, he saw a faint, hazy globe of light drifting across the field of view.