Topic: BRIGHTENING COMET (Read 2466 times)

The Postman · « **on:** January 07, 2007, 03:23:45 pm »

BRIGHTENING COMET: Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is plunging toward the Sun and brightening dramatically. Alan Dyer of Cluny, southern Alberta, Canada, took this picture at sunset on Jan. 6th: "The comet is bright in the evening twilight, easily visible through binoculars. I estimate its visual magnitude to be -1," says Dyer. To find the comet, he advises, look to the right of Venus.

"I just got home from observing the comet--wow, what a beauty!" adds Doug Zubenel near Topeka, Kansas. "I could barely make it out naked eye 2o above the horizon. But with my 6-inch binocular telescope at 25-power, it looked just like the photos you've been running the last couple of days."

The Postman · « **Reply #1 on:** January 09, 2007, 05:24:57 pm »

I took this an hour ago with a 500mm f 5.6 Celestron on a Nikon D1h.

The Postman · « **Reply #2 on:** January 09, 2007, 05:32:01 pm »

Also this one

S'Raek · « **Reply #3 on:** January 09, 2007, 08:31:54 pm »

Should I be able to see that in Ohio? If so where would I look and what's the best time?

The Postman · « **Reply #4 on:** January 09, 2007, 09:09:09 pm »

I took these 30 minutes after sun set just north of where the sun set. If I were going to see it, I would do so by tomorrow night. On 1/13, it swings around the sun.
From http://spaceweather.com

Quote

HOT COMET: Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is plunging toward the Sun. It won't hit, but at closest approach on Jan. 13th it will be much closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury. The comet will experience fierce heating and it could brighten considerably, emerging from the encounter brighter than a 1st magnitude star.

For the next few mornings, northerners can see Comet McNaught before it disappears into the Sun's glare. It's an easy target for binoculars hanging low in the eastern sky at sunrise. After Jan. 11th, only SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) will be able to track the comet as it angles toward the bright Sun. SOHO images are posted in near-real time on the Internet, so you can watch the comet-sun encounter and see what happens.

It may get even better in a week or so when it starts coming out of the suns glare.

Morning map: http://www.spaceweather.com/images2007/08jan07/skymap_north_m.gif

Evening map; http://www.spaceweather.com/images2007/08jan07/skymap_north.gif

Fedman NCC-3758 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2007, 09:10:58 pm »

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070105.html

S'Raek · « **Reply #6 on:** January 10, 2007, 06:43:58 am »

Thanks. Hopefully I get home in time tonight.

Darth Sidious · « **Reply #7 on:** January 10, 2007, 08:17:26 am »

I shake my fist at cloudy horizons... every day.

Ferretlxix_XC · « **Reply #8 on:** January 10, 2007, 04:39:56 pm »

I just had a pleasant suprise today.
I was able to make it out in the sky from my widow after I first located it outside, of course.

Really cool. hopefully it'll become more spectacular later on.

Nemesis · « **Reply #9 on:** January 10, 2007, 06:14:35 pm »

Quote from: Ferretlxix_XC on January 10, 2007, 04:39:56 pm

I was able to make it out in the sky from my widow after I first located it outside, of course.

hmmm.

S'Raek · « **Reply #10 on:** January 11, 2007, 06:28:42 am »

I couldn't see it, but we had some clouds to the north. That may have been why.

IAF Lyrkiller · « **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2007, 06:02:42 pm »

Right now we have rain and clouds.

The Postman · « **Reply #12 on:** January 13, 2007, 07:14:47 am »

Today the comet is going through perihelion so it is not visible anyway. In 2-3 days it should be visible and even brighter. As for me, I don't think I will see clear skys untill Tues. PM.

The Postman · « **Reply #13 on:** January 14, 2007, 09:01:11 am »

DAYTIME COMET: Comet McNaught is now visible in broad daylight. "It's fantastic," reports Wayne Winch of Bishop, California. "I put the sun behind a neighbor's house to block the glare and the comet popped right into view. You can even see the tail."

This trick is best performed around local noon: Go outside and stand in the shadow of a building. Face south. The comet lies 5 degrees to the left of the sun. (Five degrees is the width of your fist held at arm's length.)

credit: Thorsten Boeckel of Bavaria, Germany

You may not see anything at first, but don't give up. Scan the blue sky until your eyes alight upon the comet. Once seen, you'll wonder how you could've missed it.

This weekend is a special time for Comet McNaught because it is passing close to the sun. Solar heat is causing the comet to vaporize furiously and brighten to daylight visibility. At magnitude -4 to -5, McNaught is the brightest comet since Ikeya-Seki in 1965.

Binoculars dramatically improve the view of the comet, allowing you to see structure within the tail. But please be super-careful not to look at the sun. Direct sunlight through binoculars can cause permanent eye damage.

Fedman NCC-3758 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2007, 12:35:55 pm »

Clouds and rain today. Grrrrr

Have to try tomorrow.

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