Comet of the Century

Comet McNaught, the brightest comet, in decades is now visible shortly after sunset and before sunrise. It is expected to become the brightest comet of the last 100 years. Needless to say this is a once in lifetime experience. Click on the picture to get more information on it. Go out tonight and take a look at it. You don't need a telescope. You can see it with your naked eye but binoculars will enhance the experience.

Your commas are placed like an inappropriatly punctuated GRE sentance.

Check your own spelling before criticizing someone else's grammar.

Nah. Where's the fun in that? :oD

The fun's in not looking like an idiot :P

No way. Looking like an idiot RULES.

(Irony is often mistaken for idiocy.)

Touche :)

bah, living in the city i doubt i'll be able to check it out. i'll try anyway, thanks for the heads up, mister gordon.

It's the brightest comet, and it's name is "McNaught." 

IRONY!

Hyakutake was pretty amazing looking, but the last "comet of the century" I recall was Halley's, and it was a total disappointment.

This is the Comet over Krakow. Once again click on the image to get more information including a bigger version of the same picture and how to see realtime images of it from a spacecraft.

Since the comet isn't going to be seen in the Southern Hemisphere until tomorrow, this photo is  obviously of the North Poles.

You are going to hell just for that joke. Don't you know that Polish jokes are in bad taste?

Bad taste?  I happen to like polish dill pickles.

I might be going to hell, but it certainly isn't for that joke.

Credit & Copyright: Juan Casado (skylook.net)

The comet got brighter than Venus! As usual click on the photo for more info.

Does anyone else regularly check the Astronomy Picture of the Day? It is the source of my desktop backgrounds. I change it every time I like the new pic.

I have NASA's www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_738.htmlimage of the day on my homepage, funny they didn't put the comet up. That is a great picture-amazing resolution of the comet, the color of the sky , and the clouds.

www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html While I was at the NASA website they had a link for Bush's vision for NASA. I didn't read it but it made me think of this recent Doonesbury strip

One more view of the comet.

Comet McNaught from New STEREO Satellite
Credit: SECCHI, STEREO, NRL, NASA

That is what the comet looked like from the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) instrument onboard the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) satellite.

The comet from space is my least favorite of the photos but I'm not sure which is my favorite. I'm leaning towards the one taken in Catalonia. I like the effect of being above the clouds.

McNaught's Matinee
Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip - Inset: David Levy

I would like to see it but im not sure that it will be near me when I look for it.

SOHO: Comet McNaught Movie
Credit: SOHO Consortium, LASCO, ESA, NASA - courtesy Steele Hill

Explanation: This frame from a spectacular time lapse movie shows Comet McNaught - the Great Comet of 2007 - sweeping through the inner solar system. The movie frames were recorded from January 12 through Jan 16 by a coronograph onboard the sun-staring SOHO spacecraft. Bright planet Mercury also glides dramatically through the field of view but the Sun itself remains fixed, hidden behind the coronograph's central occulting disk. The broad-tailed comet is so bright it almost overwhelms SOHO's sensitive camera designed to explore the fainter structures in the Sun's outer atmosphere. Comet McNaught's closest approach to the Sun (perihelion on January 12) was only 0.17 astronomical units, or about half the distance between the Sun and Mercury. (Note: To download the movie file, click on the picture.)

I had to share this latest pic of the comet.


Comet Between Fireworks and Lightning
Credit & Copyright: Antti Kemppainen

Explanation: Sometimes the sky itself is the best show in town. On January 26, people from Perth, Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far. Nearby, fireworks exploded as part of Australia Day celebrations. On the far right, lightning from a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. Near the image center, though, seen through clouds, was the most unusual sight of all: Comet McNaught. The photogenic comet was so bright that it even remained visible though the din of Earthly flashes. Comet McNaught continues to move out from the Sun and dim, but should remain visible in southern skies with binoculars through the end of this month. The above image is actually a three photograph panorama digitally processed to reduce red reflections from the exploding firework.