Starship Asterisk*

I have a question. The write-up about Comet McNaught (1/5/07) says that viewing is best at dawn in the eastern sky, but the photo was taken at dusk two days ago. Does that mean I can still view it at dusk in the western sky, since my eastern view is obstructed?

edited by makc to include following quote:

soupphysics wrote:It's been on APOD on January 5,9,13,15,17,18,19,20 and 22.

Probably for the next day or two but then the comet will pass close to the sun and will wind up being viewed as brighter on the other side. you can find it here http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/mpeg/ as it passes

Space.com claims that estimates for the upcoming peak magnitude of the comet range from 2.1 all the way up to -8.8.

Could you imagine? A comet brighter than Venus! Even Hale-Bopp was only around -1.

Also, it will soon pass through SOHO's field of view, so expect updates from that project team to include information on this one.

I will definitely be paying attention to this one. I hope we get some good weather here in the NW to try to spot it, especially once it swings away from the glare of the sun. I've got my fingers crossed for a show.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070105.html
Comet McNaught may be even brighter after rounding the sun. I can hardly wait.
Orin

I tried to view McNaught last night but all I could see was Venus. I thought maybe after it came around the sun there may be some good viewing but it sounds like the best viewing will be in the Southern hemisphere. I'think it will be too close to the sun for any more viewing right now.
Orin

i'm having trouble with reading that i can view the comet both at sunrise or sunset. which side of the sun is it on? i would like to get a look. i live at 90w 30n

I'm not proficient at linking, but here is some good info on viewing Comet McNaught:

http://skytonight.com/observing/home/5089276.html

Hope that helps - and that the link works!
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today being the 12th, means it should be entering SOHO's field of view.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/mpeg/
watch the LASCO C3 mpeg file. you will already notice it in the thumb.

I think tonight is the last night for a decent view. And possibly tomorrow, the 13th, for a quick glance i'd presume. Any observations in the south are said to be short lived as it'll fade real fast.

For comet viewing...
http://skytonight.com/observing/home/5089276.html
Link provided by Indigo_Sunrise on another thread, thank you!

Hopefully tonight the clouds will part and the haze will disappear. Is this thing ever come back or will disappear back into the Ooort cloud ? If that is where it came from .

I saw it last night!

At 5, I dropped what I was in the middle of at work and wandered outside with binoculars in hand. Despite the haze, the sun glare, and the lights of Portland that I was looking through, I was able to spot it through the binoculars in about 30 seconds. It quickly became bright enough to see with the naked eye...even before Venus was visible, then slowly faded into the haze as it go closer to the horizon.

The comet fans in the southern hemisphere are in for quite a show. I'm jealous.

Would anyone have time and patience to explain to an uneducated amateur why the comet was visible at sunrise and sunset? I thought things had to be on one side of the sun or the other.

My guess is that's because after morning sky is getting too bright, and fades out enough again only around the sunset.

Do we really need to see this commet almost every day on apod?

soupphysics wrote:Do we really need to see this commet almost every day on apod?

wadda ya mean

soupphysics wrote:Do we really need to see this commet almost every day on apod?

It's not exactly a galaxy or nebula that'll be around for viewing for thousands or millions of years.......

John Carswell wrote:Would anyone have time and patience to explain to an uneducated amateur why the comet was visible at sunrise and sunset? I thought things had to be on one side of the sun or the other.

For a second, I wanted to think the answer was almost obvious, but as I thought about it, I'm not sure. If it's visible just before sunrise, it must precede the sun's arc through the sky. If it's visible just after sunset, it must follow the sun's arc through the sky, correct? Perhaps in actuallity the tilt and curvature of the earth come into play here?

Galactic Groove wrote:It's not exactly a galaxy or nebula that'll be around for viewing for thousands or millions of years.......

It's also something a very large number of astro-fans are currently very interested in. The editors are responding to popular sentiment. I personally am enjoying the pictures, but I guess the novelty wears off faster for some than others.

The answer to seeing it in AM and PM is the turning of the earth.

Compare the morning and evening and imagine the earth spinning.

Sorry, I know that's not a great explanation. Probably too simplistic. Another way to think about it is this... the comet is neither leading nor trailing the sun... it's off to the side.

Galactic Groove wrote:

soupphysics wrote:Do we really need to see this commet almost every day on apod?

It's not exactly a galaxy or nebula that'll be around for viewing for thousands or millions of years.......

I guess you are right. I just thought it was overdone a little, since they are all pretty much the exact same.

It was on apod on January 5, 9, 13 and 15.

The stars rotate around polar north so, depending on your latitude, ther will appear to rotate also with respect to their orientation. If you watch tonight, you will notice in the east that the Pleades cluster rises first, followed by the Taurus constellation, then Orion rises on his back. this is for northern hemisphere observers at approx N37-38deg lat. Then, as they set, ther all set together with Orion standing, not lying down.

Something similar happens with respect to Venus. As the morning star, when Venus rises, it is located more southerly with respect to the area on the horizon where the sun rises. When Venus is the evening star, like now, it sets is a more southerly spot on the horizon than the sun does. Venus is always viewed to be more southerly on the horizon than the sun.

"Garrr," says I, in a pirate's voice; I never did catch it. We had a few clear days here, but they were the last few where the comet was visible...but just barely above the horizon. Couldn't see it without an extensive trip to find a clear hilltop or some such location.

I'll have to settle for APOD images on my desktop.

Orca wrote:"Garrr," says I, in a pirate's voice; I never did catch it. We had a few clear days here, but they were the last few where the comet was visible...but just barely above the horizon. Couldn't see it without an extensive trip to find a clear hilltop or some such location.

I'll have to settle for APOD images on my desktop.

Me too. Went right up on T'moortops an'all. It were a reight downer.
It pees it down ere for two weeks, then the first night it were clear, the bloomin' thing had set on us. bu99er.

On second thoughts, a translation might be useful...

I also had a similar experience. I visited the highest hill on the moorland area near to where I live, to try and view this comet, and I was rather disappointed.
I'm afraid that the weather here of late has been rather inclement with high levels of precipitation and heavy cloud laden skies and high winds for the past fortnight. And when the weather finally cleared, I discovered that this comet had unfortunately set on Britain.
How sad.

soupphysics wrote:

Galactic Groove wrote:

soupphysics wrote:Do we really need to see this commet almost every day on apod?

It's not exactly a galaxy or nebula that'll be around for viewing for thousands or millions of years.......

I guess you are right. I just thought it was overdone a little, since they are all pretty much the exact same.

It was on apod on January 5, 9, 13 and 15.

And now again on Jan 17 and 18. The Jan 17 pic atleast was different, since it was from space. The rest of them are the exact same. You've seen one, you've seen all 5 of them.

On tuesday night I went to a hillside park in suburban sydney for an excellent view of the comet. There were about 80 - 100 people in the park watching it.
It seemed bigger than venus though not a sharp.

I tried to impress upon my kids how good this was but they just wanted to play on the swings.