Comet McNaught - C/2006 P1
In early January 2007 Comet McNaught surprised astronomers by brightening much more than expected.
THe weather here in the UK was foul, however the sky cleared briefly on the vening of the 10th which allowed me to view the comet through a break in the cloud for about 20 minutes or so.
The comet was very low in the sky, but the brightest I have ever seen a comet. Not as bright as Venus which was visible a good 10 minutes before I saw the comet, however the comet was nearer to the Sun and in slightly brighter sky. I would guess Magnitude -2 or brighter.
Roll your mouse over the image to the left to point out were the comet is in the picture. Below are some images taken through the eyepiece of an 80mm F8 refractor fitted with a 32mm eyepiece (12.5 x Magnification) The one directly below (and it's negative) are a stack of a movie taken with the Sony Cybershot... 450 frames. |
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