Bright Comet moves into Southern Skies

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Seeing the Comet in Evening Twilight
Beginning January 14 or 15, Comet McNaught should begin to be visible in the western twilight after sunset. On these two nights, look for a ghostly streak of light near the planet Mercury, below and to the left of Venus, which is the brightest object visible in the early evening sky.

The comet will be very close to the sun on these two nights, and sets early, so don't wait too long -- and find a spot with a totally unobstructed western horizon.

Brightest Comet in 42 Years?
Comet McNaught has been visible for some time for northern hemisphere observers, brightening more than expected, and described by observers as easy to see.

At its closest approach to the sun on the 12th, the comet may be as bright as Venus, but too close to the sun to see. By the time it shows up in our skies, assuming it survives its close approach to the sun, Comet McNaught should be about as bright as Mercury.

During the 'window of visibility' for southern hemisphere naked eye observers (Jan. 14-20), the comet will be higher in the sky each night, but will get dimmer from night to night.

All predictions of comet brightness should be taken with a modest barrel of salt, however, as many comets fail to pay much attention to human brightness predictions.

Comets and Comet McNaught
Comet McNaught was discovered by R.H. McNaught at Siding Spring, Australia on August 7, 2006. At the time it was far out in the solar system, and more than 200000 times too faint to see with the unaided eye.

Most comets are found in the Oort Cloud, much farther from the sun than any of the planets, and are surviving clumps of dust and ices from the early solar system. If there are orbits are disturbed only slightly, they can plunge into the inner solar system, where we see the glowing cloud of evaporated gas and dust around the tiny (a few km across) solid lump, while the pressure of sunlight and of particles streaming outward from the sun can push some of the cloud (or 'coma') into the classic 'tail', which always points away from the sun.

Breakup?
Comet McNaught may be on its first pass through the inner solar system, and it may break up as it brushes past the sun at about 26 million km distance, about six times closer than Earth, and twice as close as Mercury.

More information on Comet McNaught.

Contact person:
Dr. C. David Laney
cdl@saao.ac.za
Tel.: 023-5711205 or 076-295-2187

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