A New Discovery in Space


Have you ever looked up into the night sky and wondered what really is out there? A shooting star glides across the sky. There are many different things in our solar system: planets, asteroids, stars, and comets gliding through the vacuum of space. Comets are ice balls made of gases that freeze to make the comet. The way this happens is the ices in a comet vaporize into gases when it gets close enough to the sun, making the comet shine. Also a new comet was first seen in 2007 by Quanzhi Ye at Sun Yat-sen University. This comet was named Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3). Lulin was most visible in mid to late February and faded past by early March. Also, the researchers think that this may even be the first time Comet Lulin has ever been in a solar system; it may even have its original core! This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Researchers say that Comet Lulin has a very odd orbit; it is moving the opposite directions going out of our solar system.

The way my dad and I found Comet Lulin was by first finding Saturn, second finding the star Regis, and last looking in the correct position for that night. The researchers don’t know where it is going, but wherever it is going its going fast. Many scientists are taking advantage of this young comet. I found it very fascinating to find a comet in the sky, even if it was a bit fuzzy. Next time there is a comet in the sky look up and think of what a comet really is.