Comet McNaught Update
Published on Feb 28, 2007 at 3:22 pm.
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It’s been a while since my last postings on Comet McNaught (here and here). And, a reader asked a question on another post about where the comet is heading. I thought that others might be interested, so I looked up some information to share with everyone.
Comet C/2006 P1 (Comet McNaught) is now about magnitude 9.5. It is getting farther away from us, and is now about 1.56 AU (235 million kilometers) distant. The comet is currently at about Right Ascension 22h17m23″ and Declination -62° 12′ 26″. That means that it appears to be in the constellation Tucana. You can click on the chart above for a full screen view showing the comet’s location.
For most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Tucana is one of those constellations that produce a “huh?”. It is a very far southern constellation, and it can not be seen from anywhere but the most southern parts of North America, and even then it is right on the southern horizon. Comet McNaught is not even above the horizon at any time of the day for anyone north of about 28° N latitude. So, why could we see it so well back in early January, but not now? The reason is that this comet’s orbit is nearly perpendicular to that of the planets, as seen in the following two graphics (one oblique view of the Solar System, and one nearly in the plane of the planets).
As I said in one of my earlier posts about the comet, it is leaving the Solar System. It is in a hyperbolic orbit, and it will never return. It is heading off in the general direction of the constellation Ara (also a southern constellation, though not quite as far south as Tucana). Below is the view of where the comet would be in about 110 years.
-Astroprof
(Orbital plots courtesy of NASA, JPL. Sky Views created by Starry Night Pro)
