Prime time for a comet

Shawn Jarvis, New Florence, Pa — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:49:32 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

John Danzer Greenfield Wisconsin — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:36:17 GMT

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".

Prime time for a comet

Comet Watcher — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:42:19 GMT

Gee guys, thanks HEAPS for posting this AFTER local sunset for this watcher in the Northern Hemisphere.

Prime time for a comet

Galen Lame, Parkersburg, Illinois — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:51:46 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Doug Fingles, Warner Robins, Georgia — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 01:46:34 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Lisa Labaska — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:17:47 GMT

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!!!

Prime time for a comet

San Francisco Jones — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:24:18 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Alan Boyle — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 07:38:52 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Fabrizio, Stuttgart, Germany — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:49:45 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

A. Lisa Swift, Lemoore CA — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:57:01 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

East Tennessee — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:11:36 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Wade Whitlock, Aberdeen, MD — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:56:43 GMT

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!

Prime time for a comet

Hakeem Landry, Bethesda, Md. — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:06:05 GMT

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

Prime time for a comet

chuck sevelin Deming N.M. — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:09:21 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Chet, Hudson, MA — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:18:32 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

John Carroll, Riverton, CT — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:34:45 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

John Carroll, Riverton, CT — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:43:27 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Julio Cesar Maganda, San Jose California — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:05:29 GMT

The comet mc naught it was very impressive yesturday, in San Jose Cal. It looks wonderful

Prime time for a comet

Jim SPangler, Seattle Wash — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:43:27 GMT

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!

Prime time for a comet

Randy McFarland Fullerton, CA — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:44:38 GMT

No live image of it on the Internet? It's cloudy in So California

Prime time for a comet

Anonymous, Seattle, WA — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:57:51 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Anonymous, Seattle, WA — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 03:10:45 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Alan Boyle — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:18:22 GMT

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

Prime time for a comet

Mark Ellis, Raleigh, North Carolina — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:52:11 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Alan Boyle — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 23:36:08 GMT

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/

Prime time for a comet

Anonymous, Seattle, WA — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 01:48:47 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 19:13:31 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Steve, Greensboro, NC — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 02:15:40 GMT

When's this thing coming back to our neck of the Solar system?

Prime time for a comet

Bill — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:35:55 GMT

not much too see from Mass

Prime time for a comet

statton — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:21:58 GMT

seen it last night here in australia,was very visible and could see the coma very clearly.

Prime time for a comet

Adrian Gilbert, Ngunguru, Northland, New Zealand — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:50:05 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Jane NSW Australia — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:11:32 GMT

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!

Prime time for a comet

Martin Kemp, East London, South Africa — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:38:38 GMT

Im in South Africa, East London, and i saw the comet, last night and tonight, its big bright and very easy to spot!

Prime time for a comet

jim, redlands, ca — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:17:32 GMT

i saw it on tv great view from my couch no binoculars needed!

Prime time for a comet

Meredith Stafford Highton Victora Australia — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 01:40:34 GMT

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!

Prime time for a comet

Tina, Durbanville Western Cape, South Africa — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:09:49 GMT

We saw it from our driveway last night. It was absolutely awesome!

Prime time for a comet

Kate Wilson, Wynn Vale, South Australia — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:07:36 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Alan Boyle — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 02:04:24 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Margarita Safonova, Bangalore, India — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 07:13:47 GMT

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?

Prime time for a comet

jester Sydney NSW australia — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:54:06 GMT

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

Prime time for a comet

M . Greene, Benicia, California — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:28:15 GMT

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.

Prime time for a comet

Pradyumna, Mangalore, Karnataka, INDIA — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:53:13 GMT

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?