830 views             Name(s): Lulin     Date : 2009-02-18     Location : Podljubelj     Conditions : wind, clouds     Weather : 20°C     Moon : 23 days     Setup : SW 150/1200 on EQ3     Camera : Canon 450D     Exposure : 25x90sec. ISO 1600     Processing : Iris, PS     Object description : Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin), also known as Comet Lulin, is a non-periodic comet. The most interesting characteristic of this comet is its orbit. Lulin is actually moving in the opposite direction as the planets, so its apparent velocity was quite fast. The comet passed 0.41 Astronomical Units from earth at its closest distance to Earth, about 14.5 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. It has a parabolic trajectory, which means it may have never come this way before. This may be its first and last visit to the inner solar system     Object size & distance