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Comet McNaught Visible in Broad Daylight
AbsoluteXyro writes "As the amateur astronomers among us already know, Comet McNaught has been gracing the early morning and late evening skies... as it approaches the Sun, some estimate it has the potential to become 40 times brighter than Venus, or a magnitude of -8.8! In fact, it has recently been reported at SpaceWeather.com that Comet McNaught is now visible in broad daylight! From the article: "It's fantastic," reports Wayne Winch of Bishop, California. "I put the sun behind a neighbor's house to block the glare and the comet popped right into view. You can even see the tail.""
The article quotes "...as it approaches the Sun" so I dont think we have to worry about it hitting earth. But my question is what do you think is going to happen when it hits the sun? But seriously, as someone else said, I wish there was better news coverage on it. I saw the tail of it a couple of nights ago, and didnt even think twice to take a closer look at what might have been a comet.
amen to that, my amateur astronomer brother, who built a shed-sized observatory in the backyard, decided to look at sun spots one day, and just as his eye approached the lens, he reared back in pain.
He forgot the filter, and had a nice burn on the hollow of his cheek right below his eyeball, it was shaped like this: |
very lucky to get away with just a nasty burn on thin skin