Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob_K
For you land-based people, there's an interesting photographic opportunity - comet C/2009 R1 McNaught will be only about 10 degrees away from the Sun at the time of the eclipse. This is the comet that is predicted to get to easy naked-eye brightness later on. It's visible now, already a couple of magnitudes brighter than the ephemeris prediction, so it seems it will be quite a bright object at eclipse time!
I've attached a chart generated in Starry Night showing the comet position. Location is mine, SE of Tahiti, but won't be much different where you are. Comet 141P Machholz is also marked but it will be very dim, predicted at mag 14 or so.
Edit: The scale of the Sun is slightly enlarged in the pic - just the way SN shows it at default scale. As you zoom in, correct scale is reached. Check it in your own planetarium programs. 
Cheers - |
Hey, thanks Rob!
I wont have a chance of trying to image the comet, but should have plenty of time to look for it visually (binos). Mercury will act as a convenient signpost.
Cheers
Bevan