Explanation: Comet Hale-Bopp, the Great Comet of 1997, was quite a sight. No comets of comparable brightness have graced the skies of Earth since then. During this next month, however, even besides the fleeting Comet Bradfield, two comets have a slight chance of rivaling Hale-Bopp and a good chance of putting on a memorable sky show. Unfortunatetly, most of the show will be confined to sky gazers in Earth's southern hemisphere. Both comets are already visible to the unaided eye from there. The first, Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR), should be at its best before dawn during the first weeks of May from the south. The second, Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), should be visible in early May from all over the Earth. Both comets appear to be approaching the inner Solar System for the first time and so it is very hard to predict how bright each will become. In the above photograph taken 1997 April 6, Comet Hale-Bopp was imaged from the Indian Cove Campground in the Joshua Tree National Forest in California, USA. A flashlight was used to momentarily illuminate foreground rocks during this six minute exposure.

I guess I missed posting APOD yesterday. Sorry! Here it is:

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2004 April 19

Comet Bradfield Passes the Sun
Credit: SOHO Consortium, LASCO, ESA, NASA SOHO

Explanation: Right now, Comet Bradfield is passing the Sun. The above image, the latest taken in the direction of the Sun by the SOHO LASCO instrument, shows the comet and its dust tail as the elongated white streak. The Sun would normally be seen in the very center but has been blocked from view. Comet C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) was discovered just one month ago and has brightened dramatically as it neared the Sun. Careful sky gazers can see Comet Bradfield with the unaided eye near the Sun, although NASA's sun-orbiting SOHO satellite has the best view. Reloading this page (or click here) every few hours will show Comet Bradfield continually shifting inside the LASCO frame as it rounds the Sun. There is even the possibility that the comet will break up. If not, the bright comet's trajectory will carry it outside the field of LASCO sometime tomorrow. Along with T7 and Q4, Comet Bradfield is now the third comet that is currently visible on the sky with the unaided eye, the most ever of which we are aware and quite possibly the most in recorded history.

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