These earthly godfathers of Heaven's lights, that give a name to every fixed star, have no more profit of their shining nights than those that walk and know not what they are.

— William Shakespeare

Comet Lulin

Comet Lulin

Who took this image?

Who took this image?

Comet Lulin photo

Amateur astronomer Gregg Ruppel captured the above image of Comet Lulin on January 15, 2009, which shows the comet's faint tail and rare anti-tail—a slim "second tail" that seems to point toward the sun but is actually an optical effect.

Comet Lulin will make its closest approach to Earth on February 24, and while it will probably be hard to see with the naked eye, astronomers think the "fresh" new comet has the potential to brighten rapidly.

Photograph by Gregg Ruppel

Comet Lulin

The image is an illustration from this article

http://njastro.org/agx/content/two-tailed-comet-nearing-earth