Comments on: Visible Comet in February Despite Lull in Meteor Shower Activity

By: Meteor

Meteor — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:37:21 +0000

SusieB,

I am not sure what you were looking at. Venus has been prominent in the western sky, the comet Lulin has been near the constellation Leo and the planet Saturn.

Diana,

The comet may appear “close” to the moon in the sky, but is about 160X farther from Earth than the moon or about 38 million miles. This is why it “appears” stationery in the sky.

- Meteor Mark

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 07:12:24 +0000

Hi,
I am Diana!
I was just going to ask you about that comet, is that the one that is close to moon, next to it? and it seems like that the bright star is like under the cloud.
I’ve seen one before, but it had a tale and was moving from one place to another, this one doesn’t really moves. there are so many satelites up there, so much trash, so you don’t even know that you are looking at the stars. have you seen that picture? it’s hurt, thinking of what people do with Earth, just to get comfort for them selfs.

By: SusieB

SusieB — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:32:40 +0000

My mom called from Calif. to tell me to look at the comet by the moon tonight.. Was it a comet? … or Venus? It has been VERY bright. It’s about 9pm.

By: Meteor

Meteor — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:50:34 +0000

Ernesto,

Thanks for the comment!

- Meteor Mark

By: Ernesto

Ernesto — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:28:22 +0000

Hey!

I saw Lulin in the sky on 24th february, i thought it was an airplane but it was so still that i just admired it. Now i know it was a comet. Funny.

Nice guys, from now on i’ll visit this blog to get the hot stuff about this great events!

see ya around!

Ernesto

México!

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.
.

By: Meteor

Meteor — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:18:15 +0000

The comet Lulin is now visible in your sky! Have fun. Look to the south near the constellation Leo.

By: Meteor

Meteor — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 02:48:31 +0000

Jen,

The answer is in the above post. Don’t be mislead and think that you will see a ball of light streaking across the sky. In relation to other objects in the night sky, comets sometimes appear stationary, even though they are moving very fast in our solar system.

I hope this helps.

- Meteor Mark

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 02:40:33 +0000

where and when can we see this comet at night.

By: Meteor

Meteor — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:50:05 +0000

Lydia,

This was very likely the planet Venus. Have you ever noticed that our Sun changes colors as it sets? Unfortunately the orange color may have been due to air pollution.

Venus will be visible for a few more months in the western sky.

Thanks for the comment.

- Meteor Mark

By: Lydia

Lydia — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:36:09 +0000

Hello,

I live in Milwaukee, WI 15 minutes away from downtown. I was staring at the sky earlier tonight because I noticed that there was something VERY bright and big. It Looked brighter than a normal star. It was west of where I am. I think it was there for more than an hour when I saw it and then it started to get smaller and farther away. Once it was farther away, I could see like a small orange dot that shined . It was really weird. I went to the attic to see out the windows because it eventually got so small that it was hard to see. I looked through some binoculars and I could see the orange color. Was this a meteor?

By: Joey

Joey — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:51:23 +0000

It was obviously a jet.

By: Meteor

Meteor — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:44:31 +0000

Win,

Too bad you couldn’t have snapped a picture.

Thanks for the comments.

- Meteor Mark

By: Win

Win — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:54:48 +0000

… I know clouds come in all shapes and sizes but why would one be comet-shaped and get smaller over time? It literally looked like a small streak in the sky, not a cloud, and it was so bright. The other clouds in the sky were the typical cumulus clouds you’d see at sunset. This thing I saw was significantly smaller, had a definite ‘shape’ and was moving in a particular direction until it disappeared. I dunno, maybe you’re right. Thanks.

By: Meteor

Meteor — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:00:33 +0000

Win,

Thanks for the comment. It sounds like it was a lone cloud in the sky on the horizon. Keep in mind “shooting stars” do not only appear when stars are visible. You may find our glossary interesting on this site. You can also use the search tool and type in “meteor facts” some of my posts may enlighten you.

- Meteor Mark

By: Win

Win — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:22:08 +0000

Hi. I live in Barbados and on Feb. 6, around sunset (between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. I saw what looked like a comet in the sky. It stood out like a white streak in the orange-coloured sky and it was there for about 10 mins. It was shaped like a comet but the tail wasn’t very long and the longer I watched it, the smaller the whole thing got until it disappeared (the tail didn’t shorten, the image appeared to be moving westward, away from the island).
I’ve witnessed shooting stars before, this wasn’t one- it didn’t fizzle out quickly (actually, no stars were out yet). It also didn’t appear to be any sort of vessel like an airplane, leaving exhaust as the tail didn’t lengthen. The whole thing just appeared to be a very bright white, like it was superhot.
Any idea what it was?