Comet Lulin visible in Susitna Valley night sky

Comet Lulin has been in astronomy news lately. Lulin was discovered two years ago and named after the observatory in Taiwan that first took photographs of the comet. Now the comet is visible in the Susitna Valley night sky by looking through binoculars.

Sunday the fuzzy patch of the comet was below and to the left of Saturn. On Monday night, it was to the right of Saturn. The planet Saturn is directly below constellation Leo the lion, and rises around 8 or 9 o’clock at night. By 10 o’clock Saturn is at an elevation high enough to make viewing the comet fairly easy. Residents can find the fuzzy patch of the comet with their binoculars by finding Saturn and moving two fields of view to the right, just below Leo the lion’s hindquarters.

Comet Lulin, a two-tailed green colored comet, was closet to Earth Monday night. By March 1st, the comet will be beyond Regulus and probably only visible by looking through a telescope. Lulin is heading out of our solar system and astronomers say it is likely we will not see it again.