Comet McNaught Becoming Visible to the Unaided Eye
Credit & Copyright: Jose Francisco Hernandez (Altamira Observartory)
Posted on 06/07/2010 5:37:46 AM PDT by sig226
Explanation: A new comet is brightening and is now expected to become visible to the unaided eye later this month. C/2009 R1 (McNaught) is already showing an impressive tail and is currently visible through binoculars. The above image, taken yesterday from the Altamira Observatory in the Canary Islands and spanning about five degrees, shows an impressive green coma and a long ion tail in front of distant star trails. Although predicting the brightness of comets is notoriously difficult, current estimates place Comet McNaught as becoming visible to unaided northern hemisphere observers in late June, before sunrise, and in early July, after sunset. Discovered by Robert McNaught last year, the sun-orbiting iceberg will pass the Earth next week and will continue to melt and shed debris as it closes in on the Sun until early July. After reaching about half of the Earth-Sun distance from the Sun, the comet should fade rapidly as it then heads out of the inner Solar System.
Comet McNaught will be visible through mid-June, beginning tonight. You'll have to be an early riser and need binoculars or a telescope. Look towards the east just before dawn as McNaught passes through the constellation Andromeda. From the Northern Hemisphere, the comet will begin to travel lower in the sky, but will also become brighter toward the end of the week, as the Moon wanes and it begins to pass through Perseus, finally disappearing from view towards the end of June. Comet McNaught reaches perihelion (the outer edge of its orbit) on July 2; astronomers believe that McNaught is on an hyperbolic orbit, so once it leaves the solar system, it likely won't return.
Excellent!
Thanks for that excerpt. Do you have a link to the source?
Tanx again. :)
...sigh... No darkness here this time of year. :o(
I’d trade you one fleeting glance at a comet for a winter of your Northern lights. ;)
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