To: Alberta's Child
Apparently the comet passed by the earth in 2007 along what was originally described as a hyperbolic path -- meaning it would make its way through the solar system and never return. Somewhere along the way its trajectory was altered and it ended up in an elliptical orbit that is typical of a periodic comet. So now it is back three years later. That's a very short period for a comet. This is a different Comet McNaught. Robert McNaught has 54 named after him.
Sky and Telescope: Faint Comet in the June Dawn
30 posted on
06/07/2010 3:05:04 PM PDT by
KarlInOhio
(I am so immune to satire that I ate three Irish children after reading Swift's "A Modest Proposal")
To: KarlInOhio
Very interesting!
I would have thought he'd have added some variety to these things by adding other distinctive ways of telling them apart. Like maybe giving them "first" names . . . Comet Robert McNaught, Comet Julio McNaught, etc.
31 posted on
06/07/2010 3:08:35 PM PDT by
Alberta's Child
("Let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark.")
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson