This past weekend Comet McNaught peaked at a brightness that surpassed even Venus. Fascinated sky enthusiasts in the Earth's northern hemisphere were treated to an instantly visible [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] comet head and a faint elongated tail near sunrise and sunset. Recent brightness estimates [ http://cfa-www.harv…] had Comet McNaught [ http://en.wikipedia…] brighter than magnitude [ http://csep10.phys.…] -5 (minus five) over this past weekend, making it the brightest comet [ http://cfa-www.harv…] since Comet Ikeya-Seki [ http://en.wikipedia…] in 1965, which was recorded at -7 (minus seven). The Great Comet [ http://en.wikipedia…] of 2007 reached its brightest as it rounded the Sun well inside the orbit of Mercury. Over the next week Comet McNaught [ http://cometography…] will begin to fade as it moves south and away from the Sun. The unexpectedly bright comet should remain visible [ http://cfa-www.harv…] to observers in the southern hemisphere [ http://www.assa.org…] with unaided eyes for the rest of January. The above image, vertically compressed, was taken at sunset last Friday from mountains above Catalonia [ http://en.wikipedia…], Spain [ http://en.wikipedia…].
Explanation
This past weekend Comet McNaught peaked at a brightness that surpassed even Venus. Fascinated sky enthusiasts in the Earth's northern hemisphere were treated to an instantly visible [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] comet head and a faint elongated tail near sunrise and sunset. Recent brightness estimates [ http://cfa-www.harv…] had Comet McNaught [ http://en.wikipedia…] brighter than magnitude [ http://csep10.phys.…] -5 (minus five) over this past weekend, making it the brightest comet [ http://cfa-www.harv…] since Comet Ikeya-Seki [ http://en.wikipedia…] in 1965, which was recorded at -7 (minus seven). The Great Comet [ http://en.wikipedia…] of 2007 reached its brightest as it rounded the Sun well inside the orbit of Mercury. Over the next week Comet McNaught [ http://cometography…] will begin to fade as it moves south and away from the Sun. The unexpectedly bright comet should remain visible [ http://cfa-www.harv…] to observers in the southern hemisphere [ http://www.assa.org…] with unaided eyes for the rest of January. The above image, vertically compressed, was taken at sunset last Friday from mountains above Catalonia [ http://en.wikipedia…], Spain [ http://en.wikipedia…].
