3rd Brightest Comet in 70 years Flaunts its Brilliance
by Jyoti Pal - January 13, 2007 -
Third brightest comet seen in the last 70 years, and the brightest in
30 years, Comet McNaught will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere for
a week beginning January 12, International Comet Quarterly at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reports.
Comet McNaught was discovered by Australian astronomer Robert H.
McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory, near Coonabarabran, New
South Wales, Australia on August 7, 2006. The comet catalogued as
C/2006 P1 is the 31st comet to bear McNaught's name and is considered
brighter than the Comet Hale-Bopp seen in 1995 and Comet West of 1975.
The new comet will make perihelion on January 12, 2007, and will become
visible to the naked eye.
After shining near Venus, Aquila, and Ophiuchus, for about 30 minutes
after the sun sets in the northern hemisphere, the comet will become
visible in the southern hemisphere.
Uncovered as a faint, distant and inconspicuous object, the comet could
become even brighter after making its closest pass to the sun on
January 12, 2007, astronomers report.
Composed of rock, dust, and ices, a comet is a small body in the solar
system that orbits the sun and occasionally exhibits two tails, one
made of dust and the other of ionizing gases.
As per astronomy laws, the lower the magnitude number, the brighter the
object. The brightest stars in the sky are categorized as zero or first
magnitude, while faintest stars visible under dark skies have positive
magnitudes.
The brightest star, Sirius has a magnitude of -1.4, the full moon is at
-12.7 and the sun counts a magnitude of -26.7. However, Comet McNaught
posted a magnitude of -3.0.
Though shining with such high magnitude, its proximity to the sun
caused a very short window for viewing.
The comet is also expected to pass through the field of view of the
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory ("SOHO")-a spacecraft that was
launched in 1995 to study the Sun.
http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070113/3rd_brightest_comet_in_70_years_flaunt_its_brilliance-id-102690.html
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: 3rd Brightest Comet in 70 Years Flaunts Its Brilliance |
14 Jan 2007 06:17:46 PM |
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On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 06:24:44 -0800, Dr. Bipolar wrote:
3rd Brightest Comet in 70 years Flaunts its Brilliance
by Jyoti Pal - January 13, 2007 -
Third brightest comet seen in the last 70 years, and the brightest in
30 years, Comet McNaught will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere for
a week beginning January 12, International Comet Quarterly at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reports.
Assuming you aren't getting rain, freezing rain, or snow .... *sigh*
This was reported on spaceweather.com last week and I wanted to go over on
a ridge to get a picture of it, and wouldn't you know it's been
overcast ever since, and is predicted for the next several days, as
well. Argh - I miss all the omens, signs, and portents!!! ^_^
Woods
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