[Chaos-l] Comet McNaught

[Steve Meister]

Thanks Terry!  It was very impressive and worth the search in the cold.  I
would estimate that the visible tail in the twilight was more than 1 degree
long.  
 
You will only be able to see the comet if you have a view of the horizon.  I
think that you will be OK at Ebenezer SP tomorrow, since the comet will be
at 1 degree altitude and behind the distant hills 6 PM then anyway.  And
that will be your last chance.  By January 13 it will be within 5 degrees of
the sun and not really practical to spot.

The comet will be hidden in the sun for the next few days.  We should see it
for a few days on the SOHO website (
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/soho_lasco_c3_live.html ) close to the sun.
It will be visible for about 4 days on SOHO starting on Jan. 12.  After that
it will be visible only to southern-hemisphere observers. This is likely the
first and last visit of this comet.  The comet's current orbit and velocity
means that it will escape the solar system unless perturbed.
 
Steve Meister

  _____  

From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] On
Behalf Of Terry Crook
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 8:15 PM
To: chaos-l at rtpnet.org
Subject: [Chaos-l] Comet McNaught


Steve Meisner & I observed it Wed PM from Ebenezer State Park at 5:30-6:00
with binoculars as well as my 80mm Celestron refractor. It was about 10°
above the tree line horizon at first, roughly 20° to the right of Venus &
much lower. The head was quite bright, maybe magnitude 2 (?) & the tail was
fan-shaped aimed toward 2 o'clock. By 5:55, it was getting down into the
atmospheric haze & reddish twilight glow, so the head became less distinct.
Anyone going to Ebenezer SP should be aware that the ranger closes the entry
gate at about 6 (~1/2 hr past sunset?). He did check to see if anyone was
out there about 10 minutes before & thoughtfully gave me time to load my
'scope, etc. back into my car shortly after 6. I did encourage him to stop &
take a look first which probably bought us some extra time! I suppose one
could park on the roadside on one of the causeways crossing the lake below
Farrington Point but that's likely frowned upon by the authorities! It will
be visible at this time for a couple more days & then gone for us locally.



TaurusTerry in Chapel Hill, NC
35 ° 57' N  79° 02' W



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