Stargazers Will See Newly Discovered Comet

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, March 18, 2002

Stargazers Will See Newly Discovered Comet

Stargazers with telescopes will be able to see a newly discovered comet as it reaches the perihelion on Monday. The comet, discovered on February 1 by Chinese amateur astronomer Zhang Daqing and his Japanese peer Kaoru Ikeya, has been named "Kaoru-Zhang" by the Lesser Planets Center of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Experts have worked out that it takes 367 years for the "Kaoru-Zhang" comet to travel around the sun.

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Newly discovered comet to be seen

Stargazers with telescopes will be able to see a newly discovered comet as it reaches the perihelion on Monday, say experts at the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The comet, discovered on February 1 by Chinese amateur astronomer Zhang Daqing and his Japanese peer Kaoru Ikeya, has been named "Kaoru-Zhang" by the Lesser Planets Center of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the only internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies.

Follow-up observations of the comet show it is the brightest comet to be discovered this century, says Wang Sichao, a scientist at the observatory.

367 years to travel around the sun

Experts have worked out that it takes 367 years for the "Kaoru-Zhang" comet to travel around the sun. After its brief showing this year, it will not be seen again from earth for over three centuries.

Chinese astronomers will be able to observe the comet shortly after dark on Monday, when it will appear in Pisces in the northwestern sky.

In addition, the comet will be close to earth again for two weeks from the end of April, which will give stargazers another chance for a glimpse of its glory, Wang says.

About the comet and its observer

The first comet to be discovered by a Chinese amateur astronomer was reported Friday, a scientist at the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said Saturday.

The observer, Zhang Daqing, discovered the comet close to Cetusat 19:15 Friday in the northern suburbs of Kaifeng City, central Henan Province, said Wang Sichao, a researcher of the Observatory based in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province, east China. >>details

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