Slashdot Mirror
Brightest Comet In Decades Now Visible
mlimber writes "Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1), the brightest comet in decades, is currently visible to the naked eye in the early evening and early morning sky for the northern hemisphere. The northern latitudes have the best view, but it can be seen even in the southern hemisphere during the day with the right equipment. Another image is available as NASA's astronomy picture of the day." Here is a graphic of the comet's evening location from 40 degrees north latitude.
Unfortunately, no one's perfected that device where I can wipe the clouds out of the sky so I might be able to see this event from where I call home, in the Detroit area. It's been cloudy here for the last four or five days running, so much so that it precludes viewing the comet at all. Once it does clear, the light pollution pretty much drowns out any possibility of seeing anything other than the moon in the sky. Yuk, I hate living in a heavily-populated northern clime.
MMmm another good date night! Its nice and crisp outside too.
Chicago is at 41 degrees north, and civil twilight lasts from 6:11 AM to 6:46 AM, and 5:08 PM to 5:43 PM CST, if I read it right.
Since I can only see it in the morning, where will the comet be in the morning?
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
A better article that gives some easy to access maps and a bit more technical information.
BTW: Does anyone know if there are future prospects for this comet? Everything seems to point at January 15th being the end of it's visibility.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Nah, 4.5" is just the size of the aperture.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?