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After discovered by Chi Sheng and me on July 11, 2007, Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) was brightening gradually as it approach to the sun. Now it is around 7 mag, shining on the east at dawn. If the prediction is right, it will be around 4 mag on late Feburary, marked as the brightest comet in the year (among the so far known).

This image was taken on the night of Jan. 1 by the 0.41-m reflector at Lulin Observatory (the instrument that used to discover the comet), a total of three images under Johnson B/V and Cousins R were later aligned and combined by myself, to create a "color" image. Two tails can be seen, as the one to right (the dust tail) is an anti-tail, caused by our observing angle. The streak on the left is a man-made satellite. The background stars look strange as the comet moves when taking the series of images.

As the discoverer, I'm feeling lucky to see the comet which I detect it first among the human beings, is now on a significant brightness. However, at the same time, I'm also reminded with such a story -- a teacher once asked his student, "which island is the biggest island before the discovery of Australia?" "Greenland." Some replied. "It's still Australia. Whether our human beings discovered it or not does not do anything to the fact that it's the biggest island on the Earth." I think, I was, simply, spotted the comet before anyone else, and that's all. I was just lucky. Anyway, I'll observe the comet in the next couple of weeks exactly -- maybe, just with a little bit extra excitation -- as others may do. Happy observing in the International Year of Astronomy, guys!