The Truth About Comet Lee
There have been some wild statements made about Comet Lee [officially
known as C/1999H1 (Lee)]. These are simply bogus, false statements by
people who must have some agenda other than the truth. Given below is the
truth...
o Comet Lee's orbit is not irratic. It is well-known. The comet will not hit the
Earth or come any place close to it. The closest it will come to the Earth is
about 77 million miles (the Sun is 93 million miles from Earth) at the end of
September 1999. An orbital diagram is posted below...see for yourself.
o Comet Lee (or any comet) will not cause coronal mass ejections. And
Comet Lee's orbit is not affected by them.
o The comet is not expected to become bright. It is not abnormally bright nor
is it brightening at an unusual rate. In fact, it is not expected to become a
naked-eye object. It is currently near its peak brightness.
It seems every time we have a modestly bright comet, someone or group or
tabloid will claim that the comet is a threat to the Earth, has a spaceship
traveling next to it or some other nonsense. They get on the radio and call
themselves "scientists." To them, those of us that provide legitimate
information on comets are obviously part of some grand conspiracy. If you are
one that believes the nonsense that these people promote, that is certainly your
right. However, remember their predictions. When they do not come true...and
none of them came true with Comet Hale-Bopp...perhaps next time you will
not be so willing to believe the psuedo-scientific predictions they make.
Charles S. Morris - JPL
<csm@encke.jpl.nasa.gov>
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