Comet in Moominland

I read ‘Comet in Moominland’ to my daughter Alice when she was a little girl.  We both thought this was one of Tove Janssons’s best books about the adventures of the Moomins; Moomintroll, Moominpappa, Moominmamma, Sniff , the Snork Maiden and the Hemulen.  The Moomins love and support each other in a harmonious community in which the ‘family’ is the centre of their world. They all live together happily in the idyllic Moomin Valley. 

Comet in Moominland describes Moomintroll’s journey to a far off Observatory where he finds out more about the fast approaching comet.  During this epic journey he discovers that water has been disappearing  from their world and falls in love with the enigmatic Snork Maiden.  Mooomintroll is both an‘Eco-warrior’ and a ‘Romantic’

Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok, have detected  an inbound comet in photographs taken using a 15.7-inch (0.4-meter) telescope at the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), near Kislovodsk.  The new comet,  designated as C/2012 S1, is currently far too faint to be seen with the naked eye being about 625 million miles from Earth.  It will be much closer in November 2013, when it could become a magnificent sight in the sky.  The preliminary orbit for this comet has been computed and  it bears a close resemblance to the orbit of the 'Great Comet of 1680'.  They might be related or one and the same!

Look for C/2012S1 first in October 2013, predawn, in the constellations of Leo and then Virgo,  it should be observable with the naked eye as a faint object.  Comets are, however, notoriously fickle, so you shouldn't give up if you fail to spot it at the first attempt.

Either way, in 2013, towards the end of November,around about my birthday and the 'American Thanksgiving Day ',  we could witness a display by a spectacular comet just like the one seen by the Moomins!

I can relate to the 'Hemulen', a troll who is a collector of  ‘things’.  In Finn Family Moomintroll, he becomes sad when he realises that he has acquired every stamp ever issued in the world.  He brightens up, however, when he realises that  he could take an interest in Botany and collect plants instead.