Bright comet makes brief northern appearance
Celestial visitor: Comet McNaught appears over Duluth, Minnesota's Spirit Mountain.
Photo courtesy Bob King, Duluth News Tribune
Comet Hale-Bopp in the Minneapolis skies in 1997: Will Comet McNaught outshine it? Photo courtesy Mark RyanFor us in the Northern Hemisphere, Comet McNaught –one of the brightest in decades- will be visible for a short time on the horizon just before sunrise and just after sunset.
Faint showing: Comet McNaught hovers over an outbound jet above Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, MN, January 12, 2007. Photo courtesy Mark Ryan
Comets, often called “dirty snowballs”, or perhaps more precisely “icy dirtballs”,
are composed of ice, dust, snow and gas, and are believed to originate in the far reaches of our solar system in a hypothesized area of space called the Oort Cloud. They are invisible to us until they orbit near the sun and reveal their glowing tails. Recent space probes have gathered more information about their composition .
According to NASA astronomer Tony Phillips, Comet McNaught is six times brighter than 1997’s Comet Hale-Bopp, and 100 times brighter than Halley’s Comet when it last appeared in 1986.
“It will remain a spectacular comet for weeks, perhaps months, in the Southern Hemisphere,” he said. “It could emerge as the brightest comet in recorded history.”
Weather permitting, Comet McNaught should be visible just after sunset today (4:54 CST Jan. 12 at Latitude 45° N) in the west-southwestern sky. Once the sun sets, locate the bright planet Venus about 11 degrees above the horizon in the southwest, then look down and to the right for Comet McNaught. You may also spot it just before sunrise (7:49 CST Jan. 13 at Latitude 45° N). About twenty minutes before the sun rises would be a good time to look. The comet should be visible just to the south of due east.
MORE INFORMATION
More about Comet McNaught
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Minneapolis Star Tribune
Comets throughout history
More Science Buzz comet info
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I just saw this in an e-mail.
I was able to see the comet in broad daylight today from Minneapolis.
It would have been easy to spot if not for cirrus clouds blocking the view. It is currently about five degrees (left) east of the sun at noon. As the sun sets, the comet will be to the southeast of the sun and above it. It is rapidly moving south so if we get clear skies any time during the next few days take a look. Unfortunately a weather system has moved into the area obscuring our view for at least the next day or so. It will not be visible in the daytime for long...so get out and take a look as soon as it clears!
This amazing astronomical show that is truly a once in a lifetime event.
I placed the only two snapshots I was able to take while it was visible today...
http://home.earthlink.net/~shedofscience/images/comet/
See spaceweather.com for some great daytime images.
Also, NASAs SOHO sattellite is capturing the spectacular show. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
Russ Durkee
Shed of Science Observatory
Minneapolis
Thankyou for confirming that we can see it in Minnesota. I tried this morning but had trees in the way. The sun was plenty bright though and I came close to burning my retina so be careful. Next chance I get, I will go outside for I good vantage point. Here is a working link toSpaceweather's photo gallery of comet McNaught (page 7) You should be able to click back (or forward) to other pages using the navigation bar on the top.
Russ D.,
Is it possible to get a tour of the observatory?
I live just north of Hopkins.
wow i am amazed!
I just gave it a try here in Lansing, Michigan, and couldn't see it. Am I too far south? Am I trying at the wrong time of day?
here in california you can see the comet, its really big and bright, do you know why no one has mention anythig about it
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