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Quantum fluctuations in space, science, exploration and other cosmic fields... served up regularly by MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle since 2002.

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Prime time for a comet

Posted: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 2:15 PM by Alan Boyle

If you can get yourself someplace that has a clear view of sunset this evening, take the opportunity: You're likely to see the brightest comet in a generation as it's reaching its peak.

Yes, Comet McNaught is now brighter than Hale-Bopp, Kohoutek or Hyakutake - earlier comets that sparked high hopes but didn't quite meet their high expectations. In fact, according to the ICQ Comet Information Website, McNaught is almost as bright as Jupiter in the night sky. It's been 31 years since a comet was that bright.


Robin Loznak / Great Falls Tribune
Comet McNaught shines Tuesday evening
above the Rockies, west of Great Falls, Mont.

McNaught is due to round the sun on Friday, and could well brighten even more as it comes around the other side. When that happens, observers in the southern hemisphere could be treated to a comet so bright it'll be visible during daylight. But for northern observers, the next day or so could be as good as it gets.

"For observers in the northern Hemisphere, tonight is probably the best time to see it: Go outside this evening and face the sunset." SpaceWeather.com advises. "A clear view of the western horizon is essential, because the comet hangs very low. As the twilight fades to black, it should become visible to the naked eye. Observers say it's a fantastic sight through binoculars."

Don't confuse the comet with Venus, the only other object in post-sunset skies that's brighter. The planet is higher in the sky at sunset, while McNaught is the one with the faint tail.

If you need a map, you can check out the sky guide from Space.com, or SpaceWeather.com, or Sky & Telescope. The comet has also been visible in eastern skies just before sunrise, but it's been much harder to spot. Here's the chart from Space.com.

Even if you're socked in with clouds, you can watch the comet reach its climax online, courtesy of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. You can also enjoy galleries of comet images at SpaceWeather.com and Sky & Telescope. And to get a little extra information about what you're looking at, check out our "Inside a Comet" interactive. 

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I really wanted to see the comet but we live in a valley. Along with I think my brother and I started l;ooking too late. I hope I can see it next year or the next time.
This is a very disappointing comet. The one in 1997 was easy to see for a very long time. Who comes up with these claims "brightest comet in decades".
Gee guys, thanks HEAPS for posting this AFTER local sunset for this watcher in the Northern Hemisphere.
Wed,1/10/07 @ 5:15 p.m. Comet McNaught was visible in the WSW sky from Parkersburg,IL which is in S.Illinois. It was barely visible to the naked eye and was suprisingly visible with 7x35 binoculars.I encourage all to try to look @ these objects when they occur. They're a wonder you just don't see that often and may only get to see one or two in a lifetime.I've been lucky enough to see two now at age 40 being Comet Hale-Bopp and now Comet Mcnaught.
My search for Comet McNaught was for naught this evening. I did everything, found a low rise with a clear shot to the horizon, away from city lights, Venus arrived right on schedule, but McNaught was a no-show. Sky was clear with thin clouds directly on the horizon, but not near Venus, which shone nicely, albeit alone. Naked eye and binocs both proved fruitless in the search.
I live in Alaska and last night we got to see the McNaught Comet just as clear as day...it was about 4:30pm Alaska time and was twilight and right outside our office over the Alaska Mountain Range, there it was. Wonderful sight!!!
I spotted it over San Francisco at 5:30 PM.  Needed binoculars and a friendly fellow observer who knew the spot in the sky to look toward. It was quite a sight.  My first comet viewing.

I read that this comet is more impressive the farther north you go (because of the timing of sunset, I believe). This may explain why some think it looks more impressive than others. Unfortunately, I was caught in gridlock due to a Seattle snowstorm. :-(

It's not too late ... tonight was peak viewing, but there's still another day or two before McNaught gets lost in the sun's glare.

Mah, brighter than the Hyakutake? Actually I remember seeing it in a wonderful night on a top of a mountain nearby Rome, Italy. I never saw something like that. Hyakutake was and will be the brighter comet ever, due its orbit proximity to the Earth. Dont make the error to classify the comets by its magnitude. The key point is their observation conditions. Hyakutake was visible all night long and the tail spawned the whole sky. It was as big as the full moon.

When McNaught comes out from behind the sun, will we in the Northern Hemisphere be able to see it online? I was unable to watch for it tonight, because I have no view of the western horizon. You see, there's this mountain range between me and the horizon...

I remember Hale-Bopp fondly, and I missed it when it was gone.

I see the comet every evening around 5:45pm and can view it until about 6:30. It is very bright and an awesome site to see.

Relax and be of good cheer!  Just remember that these things will comet and go as they will.  This too shall pass, as the urologist said about the kidney stone!  There will be another along in a while.

I think that there are organizations that do post sightings and it shouldn't be too difficult to find out about the next dirty snowball, if you are interested.  The biggest problems are the orientation of the trajectory and the local weather, as well as the response to solar warming (how much gas and particulates are emitted per unit time determine the brightness along with the distance from the sun).

We still don't know a great deal about these critters so ignorance hampers brightness predictions.  And besides, they can pretty much do what they do without let or hindrance from us!


   Greetings, 

   This email has nothing to do with the comet, though I'll be sure to go out and take a peak.

   I have a video of an object that appears to be a UFO (I could not identify it, and nobody that has seen it could either.)

   This is not a hoax or fabrication.  I would like to share this information with others.  Please let me know how I might go about presenting this to MSNBC.

   Thank you, 
   Hakeem Landry

My wife & I have been able to watch McNauht since Sunday. It seems to have brighten each day. Unfortunately clouds set in Wed.& looks like today will be the same.

I was fascinated when I finally spotted Comet McNaught in the twilight Tuesday pointing it out to several people. Yesterday, I was at a seashore beach facing southwestward watching the (apparent) sunset, again, telling several people to stay for the viewing. As it became visible in the ruddy twilght, I made sure they saw it.

 It does not seem as "bright" because it is rather low in the atmosphere with greater reddening and dimming its light due to refraction.

I viewed it last night. I enjoyed seeing it, as unspectacular as it was, but for all the people to whom I emailed this article and then enjoined to go see it for themselves, it was a big yawn.
Doug Fingles, look lower and to the right (N) of Venus just as the reds have faded from the western sky and you should see it. Unless you have a westward facing mountain from which to view, tonight will probably be your last best chance.
The comet mc naught it was very impressive yesturday, in San Jose Cal. It looks wonderful
We just saw it and it was pretty cool- better than Halley.  But Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp were more visible in the Seattle area.  Don't waste the sunset - it disappears quickly!
No live image of it on the Internet? It's cloudy in So California
Comet was clearly visible with the naked eye in Seattle area this evening. Most impressive, but not nearly as spectacular as Hale-Bopp (due to twilight). Not sure why the author feels Hale-Bopp did not live up to expectations.

It was a great naked eye sight as the clouds finally parted in Seattle. Even better in 8x25 binocs.

I started ~5:10P local time and estimate the coma ~Mag -1 when comet was about 5 degrees above horizon (tough comps vs Venus which was far from horizon)  
The dust tail was fairly long and visible to the naked eye almost 8 mins after the comet set behind the Olympic mountains.

I can't compare it to Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake as I saw them in totally different situations.  McNaught was just as memorable, perhaps even moreso seeing it while looking over the lights of downtown Seattle during evening twilight.  

Yee-haw! I actually did see Comet McNaught ... living in the Seattle area myself, it's not often the cloud cover and my work schedule conspire to let me see these sorts of things, but it just so happened I was able to be out and about today, after the Great Seattle Blizzard (insert just a dusting of sarcasm here). As other Seattleites have reported, the western skies were clear ... my only problem is that I was expecting the comet to be right down on the horizon at sunset. I was driving around the neighborhood, aiming for a spot with a clearer view of the horizon, when my neighbors waved at me and I joined them. They had already spotted the comet, and directed my view toward it.

The picture from Great Falls is actually a pretty good depiction. It's small enough that you wouldn't notice it if you were just driving around. People often think sky shows like meteors are going to overwhelm them, but that's hardly ever the case. Nevertheless, once you see it, it's hypnotic.

From my Eastside vantage point, I didn't see it setting over the Olympics, but the mountains were visible to the north ... as was downtown Seattle, with the Space Needle lit up (go 12th Man!). Very beautiful.

Thanks again to Harry and Fiona for helping me find the darn thing. In Seattle and points north, at least, there should still be one good night. Check out this story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16585840/

It's also just about time to watch the comet in SOHO's sights. Just as a reminder, here's that URL:

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMMCRSVYVE_index_1.html

Unfortunately, an aticle I read last week told skygazers to look for the comet in the dawn hour before the sun broke the horizon. It was not until yesterday that I actually read about looking for the comet in the hour after sunset. Oh well, if its not the weather blocking two Mercury transits back to back, its a faulty on-line astronomy report keeping me from a comet.

The Planetary Society's Emily Lakdawalla discusses the comet in her blog, and includes a dynamite image taken by the STEREO spacecraft:

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000825/

Poor viewing conditions this evening from my vantage point in Seattle area (clouds). I was able to catch the coma for about 30 seconds immediately before it set. Much, much dimmer tonight vs last night. There is NO WAY I could have found it tonight without seeing where to look last night. Oh well, can't complain. It certainly put on a nice show last night. Good luck to the folks down south -- I think you are in for a treat.
It was a long time coming due to cloud in Calgary but I finally saw it and photographed it Thursday and Friday. A thermal inversion and still air made it smoggy however but it was still quite visible as it sunk behind the mountains. It's always a treat seeing these wonderous spectacles.
When's this thing coming back to our neck of the Solar system?
not much too see from Mass
seen it last night here in australia,was very visible and could see the coma very clearly.
Greetings from Ngunguru, Northland, New Zealand. 2145 hours, 20 January. Just popped in to post this report: McNaught's comet is really bright this evening although it is a lot loweer in the sky tonight compared to last night. We been watching McNaught for two evenings now; it's really bright, you can see it clearly with the naked eye but through a pair of binoculars it is quite stunning. Way brighter than Helley's comet in 1986.
First nights in Australia were low to the horizon and fleeting right on sunset, but the last few nights the comet has been a spectacular view in the night sky. We are really getting a great show in the Southern Hemisphere!
Im in South Africa, East London, and i saw the comet, last night and tonight, its big bright and very easy to spot!
i saw it on tv great view from my couch no binoculars needed!
We are still in awe of McNaught Comet seen in the south western sky just after sunset from the Barrabool Hills outside of Geelong, Victoria, Australia last night. The best comet view we have seen in our lifetime of 58+ years! Hope the skies are clear again tonight!
We saw it from our driveway last night. It was absolutely awesome!
Heading out with friends to photograph McNaughts Comet i thought i would probably only see something like a star and not be able to distinguish anything special but at 9.30 pm we had a wonderful view of the comet. I called my daughter so she could show our grandson aged 5 and a half and he also saw it. This morning it was the first thing he told me when i came to visit him. Something he will never forget. How Exciting.
You Southerners are making us Northerners powerfully jealous. Good on you! Please spread the word to your neighbors, just as we did up here in Seattle a couple of weeks ago.
Could we still see it in India??? We are in Bangalore (+12 deg) and the skies are very clear these days. What time would be the best?
hi there i'm from Sydney and i have been looking through my telescope at night, can't seem to find a comet ( i think i missed it when would be the best time of the day ? to see it???)

i have seen a few weird things on the sky lately and  few things that dont make no sense to me ! but hey i'm not an expert

i told mates and no one believed me arghhh
Saw it yesterday morning, clear skies here in Benicia. Went out yesterday evening at sunset, cloudy but able to take some great pics for about 5 minutes.
hi i am in mangalore, india(13 degrees north).i seemed to have missed it when it was at its best.is it visible anymore? and wher can i find it?


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