[Chaos-l] Comet McNaught

[jeffrey.2.cohn at gsk.com]

I saw it from my upstairs bathroom window in Apex.  Managed to get one or 
two photos with my camera before it dipped behind some trees.  It was 
certainly as bright as I remember Hale-Bopp, though Hale-Bopp must have 
been much closer, as I recall it appeared much larger in the sky.

Jeffrey Cohn Ph.D.
GlaxoSmithKline
MIGU MDC US Clinical
5 Moore Drive MAI-C.3421B RTP NC 27709
Phone: (919) 483-8477 Fax: (919) 315-4526
Jeffrey.2.Cohn at gsk.com



"William Cook" <wcook3 at nc.rr.com> 
Sent by: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org
10-Jan-2007 23:52
 
To
"Steve Meister" <smeister at nc.rr.com>
cc
chaos-l at rtpnet.org
Subject
Re: [Chaos-l] Comet McNaught






I took my daughter out to Mapleview Dairy ice cream store out on Dairyland 
Rd. about 5:35 this evening on the spur of the moment.  No binoc's or 
telescope.  The comet was easy to see naked eye in the setting twilight.  
The tail was also prominent naked eye.  Weather permitting, I plan to go 
out Thursday evening as well with some 8X56's and maybe a Pronto.

Bill Cook

On Jan 10, 2007, at 9:18 PM, Steve Meister wrote:

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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