空を見上げてみよう！ 「グリーンランタン」じゃないよ。もっと良いものだ（グリーンランタンとはアメリカンコミックのスーパーヒーローの名前）。
この彗星は、オーストラリアの天文学者であるテリー・ラブジョイ氏が発見した5個の彗星のうちのひとつ。彼は、8インチのレンズが付いたシンプルな望遠鏡を使って、この彗星を発見した。
この彗星は、C/2014 Q2という名で、2014年8月末に発見された彗星だ。2015年に夜空を照らす最初の彗星になるだろうと、ナショナルジオグラフィックは伝えている。
グローバルニュースによると、以前は南半球でしか見られなかったが、現時点では北半球でも観測できる。熱心な天文家たちは、晴れた夜に双眼鏡を持って外に出さえすれば、この彗星を一目見ることができる。
カナダのテレビ局「グローバルニュース」のニコール・モーティラッロ記者によると、一番見つけやすい位置は、低い空のオリオン座の右下付近だ。1月の上旬から下旬へと進むにつれて、徐々に高い位置を観測するといい。
アメリカのオンラインマガジン「スレート」によると、この彗星は長周期の軌道を取っており、太陽を一周するには約1万4000年かかるとされている。
現時点で半球でも観測できるのは、彗星が「地球軌道面に対して80度傾いている」ためであると、作家のフィル・プレート氏は述べている。
また、この彗星は黄道（惑星から見て、天球上を恒星が1年かかって1周する大円の経路）から外側に移動してきている。つまり、太陽の通り道から離れてきている。
この彗星は2014年12月28日、3時間のタイムラプス動画で撮影された。ナショナルジオグラフィックによると、緑色に見えるのは「太陽風にあたると輝く」微粒子のためだ。
グローバルニュースによると、4月までは双眼鏡で彗星を見ることができる。
Comet ISON: Latest Pictures
(01 of18)
This new view of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was taken with the TRAPPIST national telescope at ESO\'s La Silla Observatory on the morning of Friday 15 November 2013. Comet ISON was first spotted in our skies in September 2012, and will make its closest approach to the Sun in late November 2013. (credit:ESO)
(02 of18)
Waldemar Skorupa (Kahler Asten, Germany)
And another(03 of18)
(credit:Roberto De Lorenzo)
The view from Italy(04 of18)
(credit:Roberto De Lorenzo)
(05 of18)
Maximilian Teodorescu (credit:Maximilian Teodorescu)
(06 of18)
\"Taken by Kosmas Gazeas on November 18, 2013 @ University of Athens Observatory, Athens, Greece, remotely controlled from ...Netherlands!\" (credit:Kosmas Gazeas)
(07 of18)
Michael Jäger of Ebenwaldhöhe, Austria: \"Whatever exploded from the comet\'s core also created a spectacularly-long tail, more than 16 million kilometers from end to end.\" (credit:Michael Jäger of Ebenwaldhöhe, Austria)
(08 of18)
Hisayoshi Kato: \"the comet after the outburst on November 14, 2013. North is up, and East is to the left.\"\n
(09 of18)
This graphic shows the expected location of the comet named C/2012 S1 (ISON) on Nov. 28, 2013. In late November and December of 2013, it could put on a show when heating from the sun could stir up a great deal of icy and dusty material. The comet is not a threat to Earth. At the time of its closest approach to Earth, on Dec. 26, 2013, comet ISON will come no closer than 40 million miles. When considering Earthly endeavors, that\'s not exactly a ringside seat. (credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Comet ISON on April 10, 2013(10 of18)
Hubble\'s view of Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) on April 10, 2013. This image was taken in visible light. The blue false color was added to bring out details in the comet structure (credit:NASA, ESA, J.-Y. Li (Planetary Science Institute))
Comet Ison Roars Through Leo(11 of18)
In the early morning of Oct. 25 (6:45 a.m. EDT), NASA\'s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., used a 14\" telescope to capture this image of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which is brightening as it approaches the sun. The comet shines with a faint green color just to the left of center. The diagonal streak right of center was caused by the Italian SkyMed-2 satellite passing though the field of view. At magnitude 8.5, the comet is still too faint for the unaided eye or small binoculars, but it\'s an easy target in a small telescope.\nAt this time of this image, ISON was located in the constellation of Leo the Lion, some 132 million miles from Earth and heading in toward the sun at 87,900 miles per hour. (credit:NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery)
NASA’s Hubble: Galaxies, Comets, and Stars! Oh My!(12 of18)
Approaching the sun, Comet ISON floats against a seemingly infinite backdrop of numerous galaxies and a handful of foreground stars. The icy visitor, with its long gossamer tail, appears to be swimming like a tadpole through a deep pond of celestial wonders.\n \nIn reality, the comet is much, much closer. The nearest star to the sun is over 60,000 times farther away, and the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way is over thirty billion times more distant. These vast dimensions are lost in this deep space Hubble exposure that visually combines our view of the universe from the very nearby to the extraordinarily far away.\n \nIn this composite image, background stars and galaxies were separately photographed in red and yellow-green light. Because the comet moved between exposures relative to the background objects, its appearance was blurred. The blurred comet photo was replaced with a single, black-and-white exposure. The images were taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on April 30, 2013.\n \nThe Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA\'s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute\n(STScI) in Baltimore, Md., conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., in Washington, D.C. (credit:ASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA))
NASA's Hubble Sees Comet ISON Intact(13 of18)
A new image of the sunward plunging comet ISON suggests that the comet is intact despite some predictions that the fragile icy nucleus might disintegrate as the sun warms it. The comet will pass closest to the sun on Nov. 28.\nIn this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image taken on Oct. 9, the comet\'s solid nucleus is unresolved because it is so small. If the nucleus broke apart then Hubble would have likely seen evidence for multiple fragments.\nMoreover, the coma or head surrounding the comet\'s nucleus is symmetric and smooth. This would probably not be the case if clusters of smaller fragments were flying along. A polar jet of dust first seen in Hubble images taken in April is no longer visible and may have turned off.\nThis color composite image was assembled using two filters. The comet\'s coma appears cyan, a greenish-blue color due to gas, while the tail is reddish due to dust streaming off the nucleus. The tail forms as dust particles are pushed away from the nucleus by the pressure of sunlight. The comet was inside Mars’ orbit and 177 million miles from Earth when photographed. Comet ISON is predicted to make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 26, at a distance of 39.9 million miles. (credit:NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA))
Predicted Path for Comet ISON for Late November 2013(14 of18)
Predicted hour-by-hour position of Comet ISON in various instruments on one of NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory spacecraft between 1 a.m. EST on Nov. 26, 2013, and 7 p.m. EST on Nov. 29, 2013. The blue field of view is from the outer coronagraph, green from the inner coronagraph, and orange from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (credit:NASA/STEREO/Goddard Space Flight Center)
Comet ISON Passes Through Virgo(15 of18)
Comet ISON shines in this five-minute exposure taken at NASA\'s Marshall Space Flight Center on Nov. 8 at 5:40 a.m. EST. The image has a field of view of roughly 1.5 degrees by 1 degree and was captured using a color CCD camera attached to a 14\" telescope located at Marshall. At the time of this picture, Comet ISON was 97 million miles from Earth, heading toward a close encounter with the sun on Nov. 28. Located in the constellation of Virgo, it is now visible in a good pair of binoculars. (credit:NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery)
738141main_Swift_ISON_Jan_30_visible_labels(16 of18)
738138main_ISON_track(17 of18)
(18 of18)
This photo was taken by reader Mike Davies (credit:Mike Davies)
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