Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) Finally ! (with pictures!)
Published on Jan 12, 2007 at 3:25 am.
8 Comments.
Filed under astrophotography, comets, skywatching.
Well, I have finally gotten to see the comet. I’ve been in Seattle all week at the 209th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (the professional organization for astronomers in North America). The meeting was great, and we had great presentations, and I learned a lot. But, it was cloudy and rainy all week (except at the end, when it was snowy). Last week, I had written about Comet C/2006 P1 (Comet McNaught) that was about to sweep around the Sun. At the time, I had downplayed suggestions that this was going to be a spectacular comet. After all, far too often a comet is predicted to be spectacular, but then it fails to live up to expectations. Well, this one apparently has. Despite it being hailed as the brightest comet in 30 years by many, I feel that Comet Hale-Bopp was better. But, this one is no slouch, either! It is supposed to rival Venus in magnitude, but to the eye Venus looks clearly brighter. That is because the light from the comet is spread out more.
To find the comet, watch the sky right after sunset. Look just above where the Sun was setting. Eventually, you’ll see what looks like a fuzzy star, and then you’ll see the tail. Don’t be confused with the much brighter object up to the left of the Sun — that is Venus.
So, the comet was getting brighter and more impressive to look at, and I was missing it because I was where the skies were cloudy. It is ironic that such a major grouping of astronomers were unable to see the brightest naked eye comet in years. But, I finally got to see the comet for myself. I did that by leaving Seattle. Of course, it had finally cleared up the day that I left, so I might have seen it that evening had I stayed later. But, my checkout time from the hotel was quite a bit earlier than my flight, so I decided to go on to the airport and see if there was an earlier plane leaving. Indeed there was. It was leaving only half full, so there was no problem with my getting to leave a couple hours early. There were a series of problems right as we were leaving, so we were a little late taking off. But, that was OK. The delay was just right for us to be in a fantastic position to see the comet at dusk. So, thanks American Airlines for getting me on that earlier flight! And, also thanks for giving me a window seat on the right side of the plane! That gave me a perfect view, and I had my camera with me. These photos were taken through the aircraft window, in flight, just holding the camera up. I was using a Pentax K110 with two lenses (a 300mm lens for the closeup shots, and a 70mm lens for the wider shot. I set the effective ISO to 3200 to get as fast a shot as possible to minimize shake due to the aircraft (we had some turbulance then) as well as the awkward that I was in. If you ask any astrophotographer, this is most definitely NOT the way to do astrophotography, so I was really surprised that it came out at all.
The two closeup shots were taken with my telephoto lens, but I also took the wider field. That wider field shows the comet less well, but it also shows Venus up to the left. I was actually quite impressed that these photos came out given the rough situation. Click on the photos to get a full screen view.
-Astroprof
Darren Addy on January 12, 2007 at 11:27 am: 1
Congrats on getting out early and catching McNaught. Impressive to handhold a 300mm shot. At first I thought you did it with the Pentax anti-shake feature. Then I realized that it is the Pentax K100 that has anti-shake and the K110 is without it. All the more impressive!
PS… As of last night, you can follow McNaught in SOHO LASCO C3 for the next few days.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/
Astroprof’s Page » C/2006 P1 — another Comet McNaught on January 12, 2007 at 2:09 pm: 2
[…] Update: Since I wrote this, Comet McNaught has really flared up and has really become impressive! Despite claims that it rivals Venus, it actually appears much dimmer to the eye. Still, it ought to be visible if you have a good horizon and not too much light pollution or haze. I was in the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Seattle all this past week, but on the way home I got to see the comet and even take some photos. They are here. […]
Linda Grable on January 12, 2007 at 4:04 pm: 3
Thanks for the great comet shots and all the info about McNaught. I’m going to try to catch it tonight in Seattle.
Lyndale Pettus on January 13, 2007 at 2:13 pm: 4
I am in Miami Florida and want to know will I be able to see the comet after it emerges from the Suns view????
Astroprof on January 13, 2007 at 2:26 pm: 5
The posting immediately following this one has a bit more information. But, I am afraid that you probably won’t see much of the comet, unless it breaks apart and gets so bright that it will be visible in the daytime. After swinging around the Sun, it will be best seen from the southern hemisphere. Check out the graphics on my next post: http://astroprofspage.com/archives/614
Astroprof’s Page » Naked Eye Comet!!!! on October 25, 2007 at 1:53 am: 6
[…] Incidentally, this is the second unexpected naked eye comet that I’ve seen this year. The first one was Comet McNaught in January. That one was also surprisingly bright, but at least it took a bit more time to get so bright. Comet Holmes seems to have gotten much brighter much quicker, so that suggests some drastic event happened on the comet. Only time will tell what that event may have been. […]
Astroprof’s Page » Starting the year with a comet on January 1, 2008 at 5:45 pm: 7
[…] 2007 was a year for spectacular comets. First there was Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) in January. I almost missed that one, as I was in Seattle at an American Astronomical Society meeting. Then, a couple months ago, we had Comet Holmes (P/17 Holmes). Both comets were visible to the naked eye even from light polluted city skies. It is rare for a comet to get that bright, and to have two in one year is really unusual. Comet McNaught was on its first trip past the Sun. Comet Holmes has been known for a century, but since its discovery it has been a very faint and unimpressive object. It had a sudden outburst in October, when it brightened by nearly a factor of one million. […]
Astroprof’s Page » Crystals and Comet McNaught on January 9, 2008 at 3:36 pm: 8
[…] One year ago, C/2006 P1 (Comet McNaught) was making all sorts of news as it put on a wonderful naked eye performance. At the time, though, I was at the AAS Meeting in Seattle, where it was rainy the whole time (except for when it snowed!). I finally got to see the comet, though, from the window of the airplane on the plane ride home to Texas. That is where I took the photo below. That was the only time I saw the comet, though, as it was cloudy back in Texas from the time I arrived until the comet was no longer visible. […]