Comet Linear 252P on March 29, 2016
I had the odds against me for getting to view this comet. Comet 252P/LINEAR came within
3.3 million miles of Earth on March 22 of this year, making it one of the closest near Earth
comets in recorded history. Predictions were that it would never brighten enough for viewing
through amateur telescopes. But the predictions were wrong then it suddenly became 1,000x
brighter than expected. I was still out of luck since it could only be viewed from the southern
hemisphere when it became visible to the unaided eye. The comet finally, just this week
pushed high enough in the early morning sky for me to see it but unfortunately the comet had
been fading quickly over the last few days and it was questionable that I would be able to find
it. Cloudy skies further hampered my attempts to view this comet until this morning. As bad
luck would have it, the bright moon was very close to the comet thus washing out the night sky
making it even more unlikely that I could find the comet. It took some time to find but Comet
252P/LINEAR was well worth the effort.
3.3 million miles of Earth on March 22 of this year, making it one of the closest near Earth
comets in recorded history. Predictions were that it would never brighten enough for viewing
through amateur telescopes. But the predictions were wrong then it suddenly became 1,000x
brighter than expected. I was still out of luck since it could only be viewed from the southern
hemisphere when it became visible to the unaided eye. The comet finally, just this week
pushed high enough in the early morning sky for me to see it but unfortunately the comet had
been fading quickly over the last few days and it was questionable that I would be able to find
it. Cloudy skies further hampered my attempts to view this comet until this morning. As bad
luck would have it, the bright moon was very close to the comet thus washing out the night sky
making it even more unlikely that I could find the comet. It took some time to find but Comet
252P/LINEAR was well worth the effort.