It's happening...Comet P1 McNaught will be VISIBLE DAYLIGHT ON JANUARY 11-15 REACHING MAGNITUDE -5 AT LEAST!!!EXCEEDING VENUS MAGNITUDE!!!WHICH IS -4.5.READ THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE INCOMING SCATTERING EVENT THAT WILL MAKE THE COMET'S PERIHELION 2.6 MAGNITUDE'S GAIN...THE RESULT IS THAT THIS MONSTER COULD REACH MAGNITUDE -7 ON JANUARY 14 2007!!!HOLD ON FOLKS!!!THE BIG ONE IS ON THE WAY!!!Observations of C/2006 P1 over the last week show that this comet is still brightening, currently following a formula close to Ho = 5.0 and n = 3, indicating that a magnitude of about -1 will be reached around the time of perihelion passage.Unfortunately, the elongation is only about 5-6 degrees then, but comet McNaught may still be visible for earth-based visual observers, because the geometry is favourable for a considerable brightness increase due to forward scattering of sunlight on very small dust particles in the coma.Dr. Joseph N. Marcus, former editor of Comet News Service, has studied the conditions for forward scattering in this particular case using a novel Henyey-Greenstein function forecast model, details of which will be published in an article which will appear in a future issue of the ICQ.His study shows that an increase in brightness of about 2.5 magnitudes can be expected at the time that the minimum scattering angle θ is reached on January 14.3. As a consequence it is well possible that this comet can be observed in broad daylight close to the sun for maybe 1 or 2 days. Probably binoculars or small telescopes will be needed, but naked eye visiblity may be possible under very good observing conditions (very clear transparant skies).Dr. Marcus has been so kind to send us an article describing in brief the procedure, and giving a brightness prediction for the week around perihelion passage.His conclusion. Towards the end of the month the elongation will have increased enough to make C/2006 P1 well visible in the evening sky for southern hemisphere observers. It may then still be as bright as magnitude 2-3.
New Comet A Hale-Bopp Type Event?
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Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is plunging toward the Sun and brightening dramatically. Alan Dyer of Cluny, southern Alberta, Canada, took this picture at sunset on Jan. 6th: .....more...see pichttp://www.spaceweather.com/
(SwampFox;5957)
Anyone been able to see it? I'm wondering if it's viewable down here in the south?
Between Jan 11 and the 13 it should be at its brightest as it nears the sun I will keep you updated on where it will be visable
Anyone been able to see it? I'm wondering if it's viewable down here in the south?
Between Jan 11 and the 13 it should be at its brightest as it nears the sun I will keep you updated on where it will be visable
You can now see this comet with the naked eye just before it gets dark and the just as the sun sets it is very low on the horizon and you only have about 10 min that it is visable just below planet Venus
Spot it nowThis is the 31st comet to bear McNaught's name and at time of discovery, it was no brighter than magnitude 17 — far to dim to see with the naked eye. Observers have followed its gradual brightening as its distances from sun and Earth decreased. It's currently both a morning and evening object, visible very low near the east-southeast horizon about 30 to 40 minutes before sunrise and very low near the west-southwest horizon about 30 to 40 minutes after sunset. Jan.11th through Jan.13 should provide best views
check out the comet as it goes in front of the soho satalite that moniters the sun the little white dot in the lower left side is planet Mercury compare to the size of the comet entering from the top lefthttp://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-c3.html
This might become the brightest comet SOHO has ever seen," says Bernhard Fleck, SOHO Project Scientist. The material ejected from the comet forms the tails. There are two tails, the dust tail and the gas – or ion – tail. The dust tail is the brighter and is formed by the intense sunlight forcing dust particles away from the comet. The solar wind, a constant stream of material flowing from the Sun, drags ionised gas from the comet to create the ion-tail. Observing comet tailsResearchers Karl Battams and Jeff Morrill at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC are planning colour filter observations of these two comet tails. "Close to the Sun the ion and dust tails move apart, a phenomenon that is often difficult to observe from the Earth," said Morrill. "By measuring the ion-tail angle we can get information about the solar wind speed very close to the Sun." Comet McNaught is moving through space on an inclined orbit. This will carry it above the Sun’s North Pole and across the Sun’s equator, a place where there is a reversal of the magnetic properties in the solar wind. Crossing this boundary could cause the comet’s ion-tail to fragment. Observations of such events are generally very rare, so SOHO's images of comet McNaught constitute an exciting opportunity for scientists. After SOHO's work is finished, the comet will emerge from the Sun’s glare and become visible again to earthbound sky watchers in the Southern Hemisphere. "It could become a really bright object in the twilight sky," said Fleck. Between 12 and 15 January, Comet McNaught will not be visible from Earth but everyone can still track the comet's passage near the Sun by looking at the SOHO images at http://soho.esac.esa.int/hotshots/.