Comet K2 will pass close to Earth today (14); Learn how to watch – science

a K2One of the most active comets, it will reach its closest approach to Earth on Thursday (14). located in the constellation ophiuchusThey can be observed using small telescopes or even using telescopes. information from Brazil Agency.

According to the National Observatory (ON), K2 will not be visible to the naked eye, but it will still be possible to observe it. “It can be observed with small telescopes or even with telescopes, as long as the observer is in places with little light pollution, that is, darker places,” explained ON Observatory researcher Marçal Evangelista Santana.

K2 will be at a distance of about 270 million kilometers from our planet. Still according to the physicist and observers in Southern Hemisphere You’ll have a great view of the comet for most of the night.

How do you spot comet K2?

The expert notes that for better observation, it is enough to look at the constellation Ophiuchus, as the reference constellation Scorpio. To facilitate translation, it is suggested to use Stellarium appAvailable for free download.

YouTube channel The virtual telescope project will be so Live broadcast The passage of the comet on his official channel, starting at 19:15:

K2 was first recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in May 2017, between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus and 2.4 billion kilometers from the Sun, 16 times farther from Earth than the Sun.

The comet was already active when it was discovered and has been moving toward the sun ever since. According to some recent work, comet C/2017 K2 may have started when it was outside the orbit of the planet Uranus.