UNLP researchers managed to photograph the “green comet” (its official name is C/2002 E3 ZFT). The images were taken on the night of Sunday, February 5, in the town of Julio Arditi, Magdalena district, regarding 50 km from our city.
Specialists from the La Plata Astrophysics Institute (IALP, UNLP-CONICET) said that “the comet was low above the northern horizon, and the brightness of the sky and the moon conspired so that it is not visible to the naked eye.” But with the right equipment, a 200mm telescope with a self-guiding equatorial mount and a Canon 70D camera, the small comet might be photographically recorded.
The specialists announced that in the next few days, with the comet higher on the horizon, the team will return to the place to obtain better photographs. “Hopefully it can be visible to the naked eye,” they added.
All the photos and news were published from the @astrochica.ialp Instagram account, which is part of the institute’s scientific outreach project. Astrochica is a young astronomer from the institute, who has a passion for disseminating science to children and young people and this has led her to venture into social networks.
