Pressemeddelelse
Julekometen Lovejoy fanget på Paranal
24. december 2011
Den nyligt opdagede komet Lovejoy er blevet fanget på fantastiske billeder og en tidsforkortet video taget fra ESO’s Paranal-observatorium i Chile. Kometen pryder den sydlige himmel efter at den helt uventet har overlevet en tæt passage af Solen.
En ny tidsforkortet videosekvens blev taget af Gabriel Brammer fra ESO for mindre end to dage siden den 22. december 2011. Gabriel var færdig med sin vagt som støtteastronom på Paranal-observatoriet, da kometen Lovejoy steg op over horisonten lige før daggry.
Med Gabriel Brammers egne ord: ”På den sidste morgen af min vagt prøvede jeg at fange den med kameraet før solopgang. Kometens hale var let at se med det blotte øje, og kombinationen af det tynde månesegl, kometen, Mælkevejen og laser-guidestjernen var næsten lige så imponerende med det blotte øje, som det ses på billedet med lang eksponeringstid.”
Sekvensen viser også den blyantstynde stråle fra VLT’s Laser Guide Star mod Mælkevejens smukke baggrund, mens astronomerne gennemførte nattens sidste observationer.
ESO-optiker Guillaume Blanchard optog et fantastisk vidvinkelbillede af komet Lovejoy og ESO-fotoambassadør Yuri Beletsky fangede det smukke skue fra Santiago de Chile. Blanchard siger: ”For mig er denne komet en julegave til de mennesker, der bliver på Paranal julen over.”
Den klare komet blev også set fra den Internationale Rumstation, og fanget i en anden fantastisk tidsforkortet videosekvens den 21. december, mens besætningen filmede lyn på Jordens natside.
Komet Lovejoy har været et varmt emne i astronomiske kredse i de seneste uger. Den blev opdaget den 27. november af den australske amatørastronom Terry Lovejoy og blev klassificeret som en Kreutz-solstrejfer med en bane meget tæt på Solen [1]. I sidste uge bevægede kometen sig ind i Solens korona – en begivenhed der var blevet set frem til. Her passerede kometen blot 140.000 kilometer fra Solens overflade. Mildest talt en tæt barbering…
Det var forventet at kometen ville falde fra hinanden og fordampe, men i stedet overlevede den sit dampende varme møde med Solen og dukkede, til alles overraskelse, op igen et par dage efter. Den er nu synlig fra den sydlige halvkugle, hvor den dukker op ved daggry med en klar hale millioner af kilometer lang. Halen består af støvpartikler, der bliver blæst væk fra kometen af solvinden.
Lovejoy vil nu fortsætte i sin meget excentriske bane om Solen, og igen forsvinde ud i de fjerne dele af Solsystemet. Det ville være interessant at vide, om den rent faktisk overlever til næste gang den viser sig på vores himmel – ifølge forudsigelserne om 314 år.
Med denne spektakulære sekvens af julekometen Lovejoy 2011, vil ESO gerne ønske alle en glædelig jul og et godt nytår.
Credit
G. Brammer/ESO
Noter
[1] Kreutz-solstrejfere er medlemmer af en familie af kometer, der menes at stamme fra én stor komet, som gik i opløsning i det 12. århundrede. Brudstykkerne kredser nu om Solen i samme bane.
Mere information
I år 2012 er der 50-års jubilæum for grundlæggelsen af det Europæiske Syd Observatorium (ESO). ESO er den mest fremtrædende internationale astronomi-organisation i Europa og verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium. ESO har i dag følgende 15 medlemslande: Belgien, Brasilien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Holland, Italien, Portugal, Schweiz og Storbritannien, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig. ESO’s aktiviteter er fokuseret på design, konstruktion og drift af jordbaserede observationsfaciliteter for at muliggøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser inden for astronomi. ESO spiller også en ledende rolle for at fremme og organisere samarbejdet inden for astronomisk forskning. I Chile driver ESO tre unikke observatorier i verdensklasse: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), der er verdens mest avancerede astronomiske observatorium til observationer i synligt lys samt to kortlægningsteleskoper. VISTA arbejder i infrarødt lys og er verdens største kortlægningsteleskop, mens VLT Survey Telescope (VST) er det største teleskop, der udelukkende er bygget til at kortlægge himlen i synligt lys. ESO er den europæiske partner i et revolutionerede astronomisk teleskop kaldet ALMA, det største igangværende astronomiske projekt. ESO planlægger i øjeblikket et 40 meter optisk/nær-infrarødt teleskop kaldet European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), der vil blive ”verdens største øje mod himlen”.
Links
- Gabriel Brammers hjemmeside
- Guillaume Blanchards hjemmeside
- ESO-fotoambassadører
Kontakter
Gabriel Brammer
ESO
Vitacura, Chile
Mobil: +56 9 94 89 00 75
E-mail: gbrammer@eso.org
Lars Lindberg Christensen
Head, ESO education and Public Outreach Department
Garching bei München, Germany
Mobil: +49 173 3872 621
E-mail: lars@eso.org
Ole J. Knudsen (Pressekontakt Danmark)
ESOs formidlingsnetværk
og Aarhus Space Centre, Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus, Danmark
Tel: +45 8715 5597
E-mail: eson-denmark@eso.org
Om pressemeddelelsen
| Pressemeddelelse nr.: | eso1153da |
| Navn: | C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), Paranal, Photo Ambassador, Santiago |
| Type: | Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Comet |
| Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
Billeder
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