Explanation:
Shining brightly in the east at dawn,
Venus
dominates the sky in this view over a suburban
landscape from Bursa, Turkey.
An otherwise familiar scene for astronomer Tunc Tezel, his
composite picture of the morning sky recorded on March 2nd
also includes a surprise visitor to the inner solar system,
Comet Pojmanski.
Cataloged as C/2006 A1, the comet was discovered
on January 2nd by Grzegorz Pojmanski of Warsaw University
Astronomical Observatory
in Poland.
At the time
very
faint and tracking through
southern skies, the comet
has now moved north and grown just bright enough to be a good target for
early-rising skygazers with binoculars.
Enhanced and framed in this picture, the comet's
tail has
also grown to a length of several degrees.
The comet will be at its closest approach to planet Earth, just
over 100 million kilometers away, on March 5.
For northern hemisphere observers in the next few days, the beginning
of morning twilight really will be the best time to
spot Comet Pojmanski.
