Amateur N.S. astronomer captures magic of the green comet

An amateur astronomer from southwestern Nova Scotia has captured a dazzling time-lapse of the green comet that's making a rare pass near Earth.

The last time the comet was this close to our planet was 50,000 years ago. Many Canadians are looking up at the stars this week as the comet gets ready to make its closest approach on Wednesday.

Tim Doucette with the Deep Sky Eye Observatory near Yarmouth, N.S., is among them.

He took a two-hour time-lapse of the comet during the early-morning hours of Jan. 28.

"If you've got a telescope and you look closely at the comet and the background stars, it's travelling relative in our sky about one-quarter degrees per hour," he told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Halifax. "So within a few minutes you can see that the comet's actually making motion in the night sky."

You can listen to Doucette's full interview with host Jeff Douglas here:

Mainstreet NS8:09Astronomer Tim Doucette captures images of rare green comet

A rare green comet that orbits our sun once every 50,000 years is now in our neighbourhood, and already an amateur astronomer has captured dazzling imagery of it.

Amateur N.S. astronomer captures magic of the green comet

1 day ago

Duration 0:09

Tim Doucette with the Deep Sky Eye Observatory in southwestern Nova Scotia has captured a dazzling time-lapse of the green comet that's making a rare pass near Earth.