Comet McNaught (2006/P1) - discussions

[seeker372011]

my first sighting today... even though there was low cloud on the horizon about 50 people gathered on a hilltop in Winston Hills, Sydney had excellent viewing till the comet disappeared behind the cloud

[AstroJunk]

Don't worry about the hills - as soon as the sun is hidden by your favourite mountain, it pops into view just above and to the right (well, it did for me!).

Clouds on the other hand - be VERY worried :(

[styleman333]

Drove around for ages trying to find a good spot to see it then the young bloke yells out " There it is " ! And there it was ....... easily to spot with the naked eye, looked magnificent with the binos .

Cant wait till tommorrow night to set up the scope and have a good look

Great sight !

[Zander]

wow!:eyepop:

awsome views in adelaide, skies are heaps clear!!
too bad i couldn't watch it right down to the horizon :(
i got on my shed roof and got my crummy 60mm refractor up there:P
took sum real dodgey pics of it with a dig cam held to the finderscope :P

awsome sight though, great tail!!

[Satchmo]

We have a popular West facing lookout here at Berowra and maybe 20 people gathered, with a pretty good sky up until the last 3 or 4 degrees of haze ( bushfire smoke ?) .

The comet was easy naked eye most of the time and at least people were adaptive and seemed pleased they could see something even if it was just a tiny star like blob to them. The view in my 20 X 80s showed a bright nucleus a few arc minutes acrossand maybe 8 to 10 arc minutes of tail though I'm sure this was just the bright bit from the coma not the gas tail.

I wish the media wouldn't hype comets up so much , it lets the public down a little : I can think of many comets I've seen far more spectacular than this though the nucleus is surely as bright as anything I've seen.

I'm hoping that with the comet higher up by Lostock the tail will be a much better display :)

Mark

[Lee]

Beautiful!
Took two friends up to Mt Sugarloaf (with half of the rest of Newcastle as it turned out!).... some people were sort of saying "Is that all" - I wanted to belt them and yell - "this is a comet you can still see naked eye at 1 degree altitude!!!!!" - once in a lifetime stuff.
Won't forget the DSLR memory card tomorrow.... :doh:

[Finn]

I tried for ages to find a good vantage point from Eltham, through viewbank and finally around Heidelberg and Heidelberg Heights. Finally found a good vantage point around the industrial area just south east of Latrobe Uni in Bundoora, but there is just too much smoke haze to see anything. Venus was obscured as well. I don't like my chances for the next few nights either if the wind continues from the north and keeps the smoke haze around Melbourne.

Damn!!

[okiscopey]

Yess!!! At last, after two days of no joy! :thumbsup:

Observed the comet from North Bondi tonight (Monday), took 5 mins to pick it up through 11x70 binos as soon as the sun had set (still a bit of Eastern Suburbs sea haze around). It became naked-eye after 20 mins and set after about 40. Had 20x90's on a tripod as well so turned into a community event for the local residents - just the sort of thing I like!

An absolutely beautiful sight ... the word 'ethereal' comes to mind.

Couldn't see Mercury at all - as elusive as ever.

Now I suppose its a race over the next few days between McNaught's reducing brightness and its higher altitude and darker sky.

Good luck to everyone for clear skies and low horizons.

Now the word 'Coopers' comes to mind! :D

[sejanus]

hey did anyone else see the 2 trails from the comet? i.e. it's tail appeared to me through my bino's as 2 seperate streams close together - my wife also noticed this, and our neighbours 9yr old did as well.

i just havent seen anyone mention it. Using 7x50's here.

[The FishMan]

I am in the same area, I tried the Freeway Public Golf Course in Bulleen and was unhappy as I could see nothing. :sadeyes: I am going to try Westfield Doncaster tomorrow as this is where I do my photography of Thunderstorms.

[Greg Bryant]

The comet was a pleasant sight indeed tonight. Like Mark, I was also in Berowra, and there were several cars present too.

The general newspapers and various websites have indeed given this comet too much hype for these first few days. The comet is:

(1) against a very bright sky background currently, and

(2) the viewing angle has us nearly seeing the comet from nearly behind (hence the surge in brightness due to "forward scattering")...which might be OK if it was close, but it's more than 0.8 AU away. The tail is therefore very foreshortened.

Wait till later this week when we'll see it against a darker sky background.

[jjjnettie]

I can't take the credit for "Comet McNot" unfortunately. It was started by some frustrated astronomers in the Northern Hemisphere.

[maksutover]

I finally saw it! Praise the LORD !!!

La Perouse was quite nice and the public were indeed hyped up. Well except one lady who walked up to me and said "whats everyone looking at??"

I took some pics with my digi camera which im ganna place in the photo section, and tomorrow i will definately take the MAKSUTOV for a try...

First comet i have seen, and it really was love at first sight !

[sheeny]

Finally saw it tonight.

I had no joy last night due to clouds and smoke, and none today during a frustrating couple of hours this afternoon - just wasn't able to see either comet or Venus during daylight. There was some visible haze, but I expect that was worse than I thought it was, becasue I can usually find Venus during the day when it's this bright.

So tonight we headed out to Blue Hill again, all up there were 7 of us. Still we struggled to find it or Venus until after the sun went down. It was quite a few minutes after the sun went down when we were able to spot Venus, from there I simply swept across and down in about the direction I expected from Glen's finder chart (memorised from this afternoon:P ) and picked up the comet!

There was still quite a bit of smoke haze for us but once found it was easily seen in the binoculars and soon bright enough to see with the naked eye even though it was already in the red smoke haze. Both 7x50s and 20x80s worked well. As it neared the horizon it quite quickly dimmed due to the smoke haze - it was barely visible in binoculars just before it hit the horizon.

Even though less than ideal conditions, I'm still pleased I saw it!

Al.

[Lee]

I can see comet chasing in my future now! Must get started on the observatory!

[Neil Dwiar]

Took my 2 grandsons to have a look at a comet, not a lot of interest until they had their first glimse, from then on it was "Awsome" We had a great view from Wynn Vale in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. Also lucky enough to have a chap with a 6" telescope for them to look through.:)

[Rodstar]

Finally saw it tonight as well. Iceman, Icemanswife, Icemansoffspring, Rodstar and Rodstarsoffspring went down to the Entrance and saw Comet McNaught as a very bright object 15-20 degrees above the horizon (there being distant hills occupying 5 degrees of that).

At first we had major cloud issues.....but that all dissipated quickly and the views were spectacular. Mike had his camera and large binos. I brought my ED80, which gave some nice views with the 22mm Panoptic, a very clear 45 degree tail. The core appeared very bright.

In all the comet was visible to us for less than 30 minutes. As it moved nearer to the horizon (and as the sky became darker), the tail appeared slightly more pronounced.

The background sky was still very dusky. I find it hard to imagine just how bright this comet would be under a dark sky, quite astonishing really.

It was nice to have some interest from others milling around. Mike helped a few people find it in the sky, and I had the opportunity to show a few people through the scope. The kids liked it too, although it is always hard to keep their interest for too long!

[Lee]

There was a fellow there where I went with a 3" wobble-tronic (Nat Geog Special) - better views through my 10x50's! I can see now how people get disillusioned with those scopes....

[fringe_dweller]

wow *insert gibbering gurgling happiness noises here* - best view through the 20x80s exactly like tornadoes first shot from tonight - made a drawing exactly the same, with spinnaker-like sail on the eastern pointing slightly curved tail - watched it for 45 min all the way to the horizon even thru muck at horizon tail and all! yikes! - superb conditions - popped out brightly almost instantly into view soon as suns limb dissappeared below horizon - sedgwick method with binocs using venus would hazard a guess at -4 no problems - pics to follow :party: :party: :jump2: :bowdown:

[gaa_ian]

Glad your getting the good skies Kearn
Northern Australia is a no go zone for astronomy ATM :(
I think i will have to wait till IIS Astrocamp to see it on Thursday :)

[centauri]

:cloudy: Bloody monsoon low has kept cloud above us for the past few days and tonight was not any better, whats worse is all this buildup and not a lightning bolt around to photograph AND no rain :mad2:

I am now praying to the sky god to clear it up for tomorrow night :prey2:

I think i will just go outside and make the hole in the brick wall bigger by belting my head against it!

Enjoy the views you lucky so and so's.

[allan27]

Just signed up today after a friend told me the McNaught was due.

Got a scope for Xmas.. nothing fancy, but looking forward to taking it to Maslin Beach tomorrow night...... did see comet for a while with binocs ... between trees from our backyard in McLaren Vale.

Hoping for clear skies tomorrow... group of friends going to beach for fish & chips and great sunset.......

[MrB]

Woohoo!

Got down to the beach a while after sunset, carpark was full of cars 50+ easy. Of that 50, 45 would have left dissappointed. Clouds were thick on the horizon and patchy everywhere else. Most people were looking in the wrong direction. After a few mins I glimpsed Venus for about 2 secs but I now knew where to look.
A few mins later I got a gap in the cloud and got a great view thru 7x50's for 30secs or so before the clouds covered it up again. Very nice curved tail.
A few mins later and it appeared again for 15secs or so, easily naked eye.
Photo's impossible due to cloud and very gusty breeze.
Looking forward to tomorrow night, hope the weather clears up.

[astroron]

The hill is 20degs and the clouds are 180degs:mad2:

[erick]

The outcome of my evening is a photograph I can show my grandchildren and say "I promise that behind that bushfire smoke is a spectacular naked-eye daylight comet - honest!" :sadeyes:

There's always tomorrow, I hope. :)

[NJB]

Hmmmm..... It seems this comet has gone from being a northern hemisphere object to a southern Australian one! :( I wouldn't mind all the cloud so much if it would rain, but cloud and no rain is useless. :mad2: What good is the brightest comet in 30 or 40 years if you can't see it. <darn, where's a smilie for "frustrated"?> Oh well, at least there's SOHO to watch, though it will soon be gone from there too....

Noel

[rogerg]

Just got back from photographing it here in the Hills of Perth. Good views on and off, the wind had died down by sunset. Photographed it until about 8:50 when it went too low in to the denser part of cloud.

I was the only one at my vantage point, but when I walked back to the car park I saw lots of disapointed people who were still looking for it. Little did they know they wouldn't even be able to see it from where they were, it was further south than they could see, they just needed to walk 100m around the hill so they could see WSW not W - WNW. I felt very disapointed for them, but not much I could do.

I will post some pics soon hopefully in the other thread.

[gaa_ian]

Know how you feel Centuri, so when does the next plane for Perth leave ?

[gaa_ian]

Thanks for you AS&T article Greg, it has been a great handout to let people know what to expect with the comet !

[MrB]

Thats freaky Roger, just been at your website thru a google search for 'Perth star party', when I saw your post after refreshing this thread.

[rogerg]

Good timing ;)

Good to see another Perth local on here :thumbsup:

[fringe_dweller]

Ian, that might be the last good skies we have till sunday?? hope not :scared: - if thats any consolation :P
ps send some of that rain down mate ;) (if ya getting 'em)

[fringe_dweller]

you know what really freaks me out - is that we are observing naked eye daylight ect .ect. and imaging a comet - WHILE IT IS STILL IN THE FOV OF SOHO C3!!!!! whoa!

[iceman]

Excellent reports everyone, it's great reading the various experiences.

As Rod said, I took my family to the Entrance last night, and met up with Rod and his kids. I went further north than the previous night, which gave me a better view across the lake and made the mountains a little more distant.

At first, clouds sat RIGHT ON TOP of where I was expecting the comet to be. Couldn't spot it until the sun had set, and then BAM it stood out very bright just above the cloud. Once I knew where it was, it was very easy to spot naked eye.

I helped a few other onlookers find it, and we all had views through the 11x70 binos and thru Rod's ED80.

It was MUCH brighter than the night before, with the 45° fan-like tail spreading out. Through the ED80, the core was very stellar-like, nice and bright. The best view through the ED80 was with the 22-pan. Being so close to the horizon, the 7 and 12mm orthos just had too much atmospheric dispertion.

Naked eye I'd estimate to be about mag -3. When Venus was visible at the same time, I felt Venus was definitely brighter. But it could've felt that way due to Venus being higher and in "darker" skies.

The wife and kids were impressed - hopefully the view will get even better in the coming days.

Here's 2 pics of Rod and 2 of his offspring.

[CometGuy]

Mark and Greg raise interesting points about the media emplasising the comet too early in the week. Last night the comet was only 7.5 degrees from the sun, its amazing the general public could see the comet at all!

Looking at Comet West, a similiar very spectacular comet from 1976, only very experienced observers were reporting that comet so close to the sun. In fact it wasn't until Comet West got to 15 degrees from the sun that the extent of the tail STARTED to become apparent. This situation doesn't occur for Comet McNaught until Thursday evening.

I am guessing the best views will come just before the moon starts to interfere early next week. For example Comet McNaught will have a similiar aspect then to Comet West on March 7, 1976, when Gil Wood described it as follows (as published in the May, 1976, of Sky and Telescope):

"Negotiating the last few winding turns near the last few winding turns near the summit, I glanced out the car window and there it was: Comet West, a fantastic fountain of light, flickering plainly through passing groves of trees. The head of the comet was too low to be seen over the embankment around the parking lot on the mountaintop, but the tail fanned out over the Cygnus Milky Way."

"I drove back down the mountain to find a suitable lookout point and got out of the car. In my 11 x 80 binoculars, the nucleus of the comet burned with the yellow brilliance of Venus inside the bluewhite spray of coma....etc"

Maybe Comet McNaught will not end up being as impressive as Comet West, but there is some chance it will.

Terry

[Grinz]

Hello all,

Just wanted to say you have an excellent place going here.

I managed to see McNaught naked eye last night over Table Bay after battling clouds for a few evenings. Tonight not even a glimpse through the clouds.

It really is quite something - I am a bit like a kid about this one.

I was wondering - had a look through the impressive array of pictures that some of you have been taking. Did anyone manage to capture Mercury with the comet last night when they were so close together (14 Jan)? My little gap in the cloud was small and of short duration and I did not take a picture. Besides, do not have sophisticated enough equipment to have taken something that could have captured the much fainter dot of the planet too.

Lee AKA Grinz

[iceman]

Here's a few pictures from when we first got there..

1. The clouds that greeted us when we arrived - we were anxiously waiting for them to move.
2. Shortly later
3. Just before sunset, starting to part.

Comet images from last night, here: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=183353&postcount=130

[Rodstar]

Beautiful crepuscularity, Mike! It sure was a pretty sunset.

[middy]

Welcome to IceInSpace. Be careful where you point the telescope down at Maslin's Beach. People might think you are looking at 'other' things. :lol:

[Rodstar]

Comet McNaughty?:lol: :lol:

[Lee]

I thought it was brighter than Venus, for that reason - Venus was much higher - difficult to tell though under those conditions - is Venus normally naked eye visible at 1 deg altitude though?

[skies2clear]

Managed to see the comet last night (15th) just after sunset in my suburban back yard in Adelaide and looking across the city (eastern suburb). It was about inline with the set sun in direction and low in the sky. Found it with 7X50 binos first then as the skies darkened more, was easily able to see it with the naked eye. As others reported, bright nucleus and wide tail, and beautiful to look at. Had the wife and kids all interested and looking for some time. Great view with 20X90 binos. We were really happy to get a look at this beautiful comet. Hopefully things will imrove over the next few days,
Cheers

[middy]

Once again the event was clouded out in Brisbane last night (15th) :sad:

Went out again at 7:30pm after the comet had sank below the horizon and the cloud was beginning to break up. Could only manage a quick snap of Venus before it too disappeared again into the murk.

Called my Dad in Adelaide to see if it was clear there and told him to go out and have a look. He called back later to say he had seen it and managed to snap off a couple of pics. Oh well, at least someone in the family has seen it I guess.

Later in the night at 10pm it was as clear as anything here in Brisbane, so I did some Saturn imaging instead.

[ausastronomer]

I observed the comet last night, with my wife, from a high vantage point at Peats Ridge on the NSW Central Coast. Andrew Catsaitis (Rocket Boy) and some of his kids were also at the same vantage point by coincidence. I had 2 binoculars with me, 16x60's and 10x42's. We observed the comet for a little over 1/2 an hour through broken patchy cloud before it disappeared into the smoke haze sitting on the horizon.

I estimated the tail to be about 1.3 degrees through both binoculars. I also noted that the tail "appeared" to be splitting slightly but I think this was an illusion caused by the forward scattering of sunlight causing the coma and edges of the tail to brighten more than the centre section of the tail.

CS-John B

[JohnG]

Just come in from a pleasant hour of viewing 2006 P1. I used the latest Comet Elements in Star Atlas Pro, Synced the Gemini system on Antares then went to the comet, was in the center of the eyepiece.

The center was very starlike and was surrounded by what appeared as a faint coma, I was unable to pick any sort of tail, stood out surprisingly well against the sky. :thumbsup:

Conditions were not the greatest, we still have a heavy smoke haze over the area, although, I think it may have helped as a natural filter.

Equipment: Takahashi FS-102, G-11 with Gemini, 30mm Celestron Ultima eyepiece, barlowed 2x.

Am going to try for some photo's.

Cheers

JohnG

[ving]

mag-bleedin-nificent view last night (posted crumby pic). went up teh top of teh hill to where the local bushland, farms and nursing home are for unobstructed views.... stood out like a sore thumb. so glad i took the walk (couple hundred meters to mooing cows), it was a great sight :D

[erick]

Well, I'm out of the comfy chair now. 20 minutes scanning and I've had to give up - no more time available. Don't know why I'm not spotting it. Smoke haze is not good, but not shocking. Dandelions - 20, Comets - nil. Well, back to sunset, if the smoke clears and storms don't arrive first. This is madness! :)

[dcnicholls]

I've had no luck during the noon time with 10x50 binocs for the past few days. I've needed to use the 25x100 monsters to see P1 during the day. And it is fading. Smoke of any amount is a killer for smaller apertures.

DN

[h0ughy]

lets hope tonight gives us a better view

[Orion]

Don't worry about the comet you have a lot of packing to do!:lol:

[Neil Dwiar]

Just been looking for a daylight glimpse over Adelaide, took some finding, but finally found a pinpoint with a very faint tail. Plenty of tadpoles moving around, but finally one that stayed in the same place. Skies very clear here at the moment, hopefully stay that way for the evening viewing

[iceman]

:welcome: Neil!

Nicely spotted.

We had clouds most of the morning but it's cleared up nicely now.. another night of comet hunting tonight, much to my wife's dismay!

[chrissara]

Do we have an estimate of how long the comet will hang around where it will be generally viewable? I read that after the 15th it will start to rapidly lose magnitude. Is this correct? Also after today will it be more observable after the sun goes down i.e. will it appear just over the horizon later at night.

SNP5 doesn't really seem to assist here.

[ving]

glad i saw it yesterday the chrissara!

any idea what mag it is now or what it will be tonight?

[[1ponders]]

The comet should hang around for quite some time. According to SN it will still be a relatively easy binocular comet in mid February @ mag 6.6 (current prediction). Unfortunately even then it will only be 16 deg above the SW horizon (Bris Vegas). About this time it will become circum polar for southern states, but still only visible about an hour after sunset then looses altitude until it is about 15 deg above the SSE horizon at sunrise again. Only mag 7.7 or so then.

[gregl456]

It was the Telegraph's turn today - see http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21066963-5006009,00.html

Accompanied by this photo:
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5360949,00.jpg
Caption:
Up and away ... the McNaught Comet speeds over Sydney last night. Picture: Adam Taylor / The Daily Telegraph

What are they thinking about (oxymoron) - the sub-editor must have been asleep (or something...) :rofl:

[chrissara]

Thank you for that - it is good to hear this. One of the troubles I have been having is viewing the comet so close to the sun. I was hoping that the comet may "distance" itself from the Sun to enable some viewing without the glare.

[[1ponders]]

If memory serves me correct, you are in North Qld aren't you? If that's the case you are going to have more of a challenge. The further north the lower it will be, eg tonight; Townsville alt @ sunset about 7 deg 31', Brisbane 8 deg 8' and Sydney 8deg 37'. In a month time Townsville = 12 deg 47', Brisbane 18 deg 4' and Sydney 23 deg 11'.

[gregl456]

Hi, Fringe - Probably a dumb question in this forum, but what's the "sedgwick method"? Wikipedia was silent :(

[chrissara]

Yes, in Mackay. Bit of a bugger, but hey, swings and roundabouts when viewing other objects

[loomberah]

Wow, what a nice jet contrail! If only the comet looked like that...

[dcnicholls]

I saw several of them coming over the mountains yesterday passing right by the comet. They were very useful in helping me see the comet with the naked eye, once I'd identified where it was relative to the aircraft.

DN

[NJB]

At last! I saw the comet this evening - just. It appeared through/between the clouds here in Brisbane. I looked at it through 10x50 binoculars, and tried taking a photo by holding a 4mp digital camera up to the binoculars. Unfortunately I didn't hold the camera steady enough for most of the images. The best (cropped) is attached. I wish I knew how to manipulate the image to bring out the comet more.

Happy viewing!
Noel
file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Noel/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg

[GrahamL]

Just went up to the local lookout to curse at the clouds .. and there it was
cloud everwhere across the western sky .. except for a 5 degree hole that had an amazingly bright comet streaking through it :D.

[dcnicholls]

Comet eaten by Shark

Well, engulfed in a shark-shaped cloud, anyway, as seen from southern Canberra.

Just made it before a phalanx of thunderstorms started moving down from the north. Naked eye but only just, easy in 10x50 binocs, when away from the cloud. The nucleus looked elongated tonight. I wonder if it's breaking up?

DN

[hj47]

Just went over to a great lookout in Putney, Sydney, and eventually found the comet after a few minutes of searching with my binoculars. Spectacular sight, I found that the comet grew brighter as the sunset progressed.

Unfortunately though the comet was eaten by the oncoming clouds/smog/smoke on the western horizon.

I had previously seen Hale-Bopp, but that was ages ago (I was only 7). This, though, was truly spectacular and a sight I will never erase from my mind. I was also lucky enough to take a few photos with my old school nikkon SLR with telephoto lens- so I will be surprised at the results I will get.

Cheers! ;)

[JohnG]

Had a reasonable view of the comet this evening although there was heavy smoke pollution to the west, was easily found and was a lot brighter than I though it would be, though 10x50 binos, there was a sharp, almost star like center with a fine coma and reasonable, fan like tail, as the sky darkened, I found that it was easily seen with the naked eye, not as bright as Venus but definately visible.

I could not follow it all the way to the horizon due to the smoke haze, it was getting quite red when it finally disappeared into the haze, it was still a bit too bright to see a long tail.

A good day, observed the comet at 1130 this morning with the telescope, a small round bright star like ceter with the hint of a coma and this evening through the 10 x 50 bino's :thumbsup:

Cheers

[ving]

WOW!!!
was it my imagination or was it brighter and the tail longer tonight? what a brilliant sight!
I was driving home from work @ about 8:20 and saw it and imediately thought 'ok now just a bit south of there is the comet' thinking it was venus smudged by my windscreen. dispite the cloud cover (not much of it) the comet was even better than last night :D
I stopped at teh top of my street to look too, to find another person up there with binos and a camera. the comet soon disapeared atfer that.

[CometGuy]

After observing the comet in the 16cm reflector this afternoon, I decided to go mobile to try and find a thinning on the cirrus out to the west. Managed to find a spot where the high cloud wasn't as thick and pulled over right on sunset when the comet and 0.5 degree of tail was immediately seen in 15 x 70 binoculars. It soon dropped into the cirrus so I moved to a better location nearby with less obstructions on the horizon. The comet dropped through the cirrus and scatter cloud and the best views were at 17:18 EST when the coma and 1 degree of tail shone clearly through a thinner section of cirrus (see picture in the images thread) It was difficult to get a good brightness estimate but I think mag -3.0 would not be too far from the truth.

This is looking really good for the weekend.

Terry

[Lee]

I thought it was better tonight than Monday.... I'm humping the ED80 up the mountain tomorrow.... need more pics! This is awesome!

[okiscopey]

Yep, looked brighter to me too. Used same binoculars as last night at same N. Bondi site (but different locals wanting a look) and similar sea haze and occasional thin clouds ... but definitely brighter, even allowing for slightly darker sky.

Only had these Andrews bins for a week... 11x70 and 20x90 (not triplets or anything) but they're absolutely excellent - especially the x11 as they're so easy to hand-hold. Now I can see why the cogniscenti around here recommend binoculars to newcomers.

Funny thing though - I noticed that I could see more of McNaught's tail if I panned it back and forth through the field of the 11x70s. (i.e when the image was moving rather than stationary) Is this a known effect, or am I just imagining it?

[jjjnettie]

Clouds in the morning, clouds in the evening. It's amazing how one cloud can stay in the one spot for an hour or more, right on top of the comet, when all the others are moving.

[MortonH]

Hey okiscopey, didn't have a chance to see it tonight.

Seeing more detail when the object moves is a known effect. I've read that if you're looking for something really faint then a little bit of movement can help it 'jump out' from the background. For example, if you were reasonably sure that a faint galaxy was in your field of view but you couldn't quite see it, you can deliberately tap the telescope to make it shake for a couple of seconds.

Morton

[Lee]

I took my Andrews 20x80's up the hill tonight, on my tripod they were great, allowed me to show the thing to other punters....

[fringe_dweller]

(evening 16th jan) just saw one of the most spectacular things i have ever seen a comet do :) p1 was VERY obvious naked eye object 10 minutes before sunset tonight sun was below clouds eventually tho, thin .25 degree slightly curved tail on a bright venus(EDIT: when venus is in similar location to sun)/(small) star!! second (another EDIT: it caught me eye even before I sarted looking for the comet!!!) then things just got better!! at 9 pm roughyl, the brightess jumped considerably, with the sun just 5 or so d below horizon, the tail just grew and grew and brightened before my eyes!! before it hit low horizon cloud not long after, it had reached at least 2.5 to 3 degrees of a broad bright simitar/sword type tail, with head incredibly bright - still brighter than Venus for sure, omg we are in the presence of GREATNESS!! shots to follow - there is no way this thing is fading, all will be *revealed* soon enough ;)

[acropolite]

Sounds great Kearn, unfortunately tonight we were smoked out, deliberately lit fires again here in Tas, maybe tomorrow night....:tasdevil:

[fringe_dweller]

Phil, the things i would like seen done to people that deliberabetly light fires in australia arent fit for family viewing, we have had a similar thing here recently and have very bad smoke hazes for a while too - i dont think there is much that upsets me more than firebugs here - wish i could swear :(

[fringe_dweller]

frankly i think this weekend the general public will be having a BIG rethink about there opinion of p1 and be eating their words - providing they have clear and decent skies - this is gonna be the biggest thing HB and b1 no probs - maybe bigger!! :confuse3: and if the nucleaus disprupts OMG its gonna be doomsday - i remember wm1 took two weeks from perihilion before it had an episode of the vents

[MrB]

Absolutelly brilliant!
Nice 'n' bright and a great fanning schimitar tail, 2 maybe 3 degree's long?

100+ cars down at the beach carpark tonight, and I don't think any of them would have left dissappointed.

There was a degree or two of smoky haze sitting right on the horizon which didn't realy disrupt views untill 9pm-ish.

It's gonna be a great couple of days to come.

[WadeH]

Great isnt it!!:) Just got in after our third terrific day and night of observing this wonder. Is it my imagination or is the tail still expanding? I would swear that its longer than last night.
Tonight had a look through the 8" with 25mm lens, still think that the best views are with the 10X50's. Taken lots of 200mm SLR shots and tonight tried some prime focus through the scope. Film unfortunatly, so wont know the outcome for a day or two. Never done prime focus before so who knows? Lots to juggle and fit into 30 minutes. Tomorrow is another night. :D

[Blue Skies]

I agree, it was just gorgeous! I haven't seen a comet that pretty in a long time. It makes up for the last couple of nights dodging cloud! The tail was easier to see naked eye than in the binos (but I've had that experience before too).

I was up at the John Forrest National Park lookout on the scarp and I estimate about 90 people turned up there, and it's not a big space! But everyone was excited and I don't think anyone went away disappointed. We only left after about 9.10pm when it dropped down into the smoke layer. I wish I'd taken my old SLR camera along now...

[erick]

Dear future grandchildren. I'm sorry about the bushfire smoke obscuring the comet in my photo from Monday night. I'm pleased to say that bushfire smoke was much reduced on Tuesday night. "In this photograph I promise that behind that thick bank of cloud is a spectacular naked-eye daylight comet - honest!" :(

[mickjfawcett]

well after 2 frustrating nights i finally got 25mins viewing of the mcnaught comet, and how great it was:eyepop:

set up at 7.30 looking over seven mile beach at gerroa (south coast nsw) had a clear view to the horizon between the hills towards nowra, sun sets at 8pm and nothing. 8.15 venus comes into light and still no comet:( , 8.25pm and im thinking i missed it through the smoke haze and low level cloud.:doh:

just about to go home and bang there she was:) had uninterupted views for a solid 25mins. great view through the binoculars, will take the 11" out tonight to see what view i get with that, but what a fantastic experience:thumbsup:

found it very strange that i couldnt see it until 25-30mins after sunset, this doesnt seem usual? also interesting to note that my version of starry night pro 5 has the comet setting 30mins earlier that reality, has anyone else noted this?

bringing the family and the big gun out tonight so lets hope the skies are clear

[Grinz]

These reports are awesome, thanks all.

After a vigil of 2 hours at the beach, all I had for tonight's viewing was a collection of pictures of a cloudy sunset.

Can't wait to see it again and I am so encouraged by those of you saying it seems NOT to be dimming.... Yippeeee. Wait for me McNaught, one short glimpse on Sunday was just enough to whet my appetite for this awesome spectacle of nature!

Who has looked for - and found it - early in the morning? I've been unsuccessful thus far; sun too bright and yes.... too many clouds as well.

[erick]

I've already found the right spot (very close to home - great!). I'm going to give it another couple of days - hopefully Friday morning, weather permitting. :)

[iceman]

I'll be out again tonight, hoping for a longer tail!

[okiscopey]

Well, I think I've heard of this before, but only for faint light objects on dark backgrounds, not a light background. Anyway, whatever helps!

[okiscopey]

I'm hoping for longer arms so I can read the newspaper again. These new glasses .. sheesh!

[tornado33]

It is now fading, looked definately fainter when I viewed it through my 10 inch telescope in the daytime today.
Scott

[ving]

gee i want to drag the family up this arvo if its still bright... hope it hasnt faded too much :(

[fringe_dweller]

Scott, I would still call it a slow fading :) I remember the rate at which V1 faded in feb 2003 - and this is a SLOW fader - if that is fading from mag 4-5 max brightness from sunday (EDIT: as i saw many estimates at - i know some were saying mag - 6 but the majority were saying -4 or 5) then I would suggest that those estimates were too conservative - it is still brighter than/equal to venus imo, and i am not exactly new to comet estimates, altho not of this nature/type of course, not many have seen something like this, not many references, even if it fades to a MERE 0 or +2 mag when in dark skies - with a nearly as bright and big tail, there is certainly nothing to be worried about as far as a spectacle is concerned.

[fringe_dweller]

so what is this rate of decrease?? - i have yet to see a suggestion? is it .25 of a mag a day - half a magnitude? a whole magnitude!!?? what?
that would be much more interesting to know :)
EDIT: bear in my mind, to my knowledge, i believe the MAXIMUM rate of linear increase/decrease in magnitude for a comet under normal circumstances (ie no disruption, defunctness edit: forward scattering, which was over on monday?) is about half a magnitude a day - extrapolate that to the weekend ;)

[dennisjames1]

yes i know how you feel my Kilcoy friend.. same here every night cloud and no rain makes it worse... will it ever clear....oh well

[asterix]

I finally saw McNaught today! Picked it up just above the treeline, between clouds, just as a light shower started! It seemed a bit fainter than Venus, definite tail visible. Only saw it for about a minute.

[erick]

Completely clouded over in Melbourne tonight - no joy here. No rain either.

[jjjnettie]

Success!
After a rich sunset, blazing pink and orange, the sky started to fade and darken. I tracked down Venus then swung over to Comet McNaught. Absolutely fabulous.
With heavy rain clouds coming quite rapidly from behind, I spent a wonderful 15 minutes or so observing.
I took some photos with the Canon then captured an .avi through the eyepiece of the 10"Dob using the Panasonic DV camera.
I'll post these in the imaging thread.

[iceman]

Wow it was GREAT tonight! I only glimpsed it for about 2 minutes - low and thick cloud on the horizon spoiled most of the show, but patience eventually paid off. The tail was MUCH longer tonight and the core seemed brighter too?

Maybe it was just more in the darkness, but it looked brighter than the other night - the tail was definitely more spectacular.

Managed to snap a few pics and then it was gone behind cloud again. Will post them next week. If today was anything to go by, the next few days at Lostock will be great!

[Lee]

Caught it again tonight from Newcastle, as it wove in and out of thick cloud bands.... got some nice views with the ED80 this time. I feel it has faded from last night, still a nice spectacle though - it is still naked eye in the twilight, pretty good!

[Dobman]

:eyepop: :eyepop: WOW. Have just seen my first comet!!!!! Logged onto Starry Nite Pro & saw Comet McN should be visible so went out to the back garden & there it was!!!! After a few minutes I had to get the ladder out so I could keep looking( quite precarious from the top rung!!) And thats from suburban Launceston. With my 10x 50's got quite a good view of the head & tail. The tail is very long is'nt it? Cant wait for Lostock, will the view be better from there?:hi:

[Zander]

awsome tonight!
much better than the other nights, the tail was heaps long ey.
had to get up on the roof to see it as much as possible.
very nice:thumbsup:

[astroron]

I observed the comet for the first time today at 17:15 , it was in thin stringy clouds, and not visible in Bino's,at the time it was at about 26deg altitude. I observed it with a 20cm SCT.:) :astron:
After finding Venus which was a neat little bright ball soon picked up
Comet P1 as bright yellowish and slightly elongated with no other detail. About the same mag as Venus, but it was difficult to get a true estimate because of the cloud.:cloudy:
I did not see any tail as the clouds thickened as the sun went down and was lost to view.:( :stargaze:

[MrB]

Another great night of viewing!
Tail definatelly seemed longer, but head had dimmed a little methinks. Still plenty bright tho. Unfortunatelly, cloud moved in around 9ish.

Last night I reckoned 100+ cars... well the beach carpark was full tonight!
Had trouble finding a spot. This carpark would be close to a kilometer long!

[swannies1983]

Great reports (and pics). As mentioned earlier, I am missing out on this comet as I have been travelling over in Europe. I am getting back to Adelaide on Australia Day. Could someone tell me (or give me a link) of magnitude estimations of the comet over the coming week? I assume it would decline in brightness but it might still be rather bright by the time I get back.

Thanks

[IceAgeComing]

Hey all, this morning, without intending to, I woke up.. just before sunrise. So I thought, what the hell, ill go try find this comet. My south eastern views was obscured by about 5-10 degrees of hill, other than that it was a perfect morning. I saw Jupiter and the crescent Moon, unfortunately no comet :( (its hard to find a ~-3 magnitude object without knowing exactly where it is)

Last night it was very cloudy out west but i caught a glimps in a gap between the clouds and the ocean just before it set. It wasn't a very overwelming sight though, it was only a slight twinkle in the sky. Caused by the thick atmosphere and probably a distant cloud. I hope this clear weather holds out tonight so I can get a twilight view!

[[1ponders]]

:hi: IAC and :welcome:

You won't see the comet well in the morning as the sun will already be up, though it is visibel in daylight if you know where to look. Your best bet is right on sunset to about an hour after sunset.

[erick]

Would someone care to enlighten me, please? I expect that we see the comet because of sunlight reflected off the gas and dust being released by the comet. As it moves away from the sun, as it starts to cool, less gas and dust is released by the main body, and therefore the visibility of the cloud around the main body will decrease. However, all the dust released and forming part of the tail continues to reflect sunlight - hence I expect the tail to remain much the same visibility for quite a while, except, of course, by moving away from the sun, there is less sunlight reaching the dust particles to be reflected. Plus, as I understand it, the comet is receding from the earth as well - hence less visible?

I'm just heading towards the question of how visible this tail will be in the next weeks as it moves into dark skies? And hoping that the answer is "Very much so!".

[glenc]

The comet will be visible in the morning soon.
See

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=21522&d=1168117676

[IceAgeComing]

thanks for the info guys. Its a perfect day today! If clouds some how creep in later... i'll cry :lol:

[ving]

hi iceageiscoming, you are already here :)
welcome to the forum :)

[tornado33]

Hi all
Today the comet was somewhat difficult to see in daylight with my 10 inch scope despite a clear blue sky. At the rate its fading I do not expect to see it in daylight again (anyway Im going to Lostock tomorrow).

Tis been a good daytime comet, Ive never seen one with the sun up let alone in the middle of the day, and visible in my scope in daytime for a full week. I suspect Mcnaught will put on a reasonable night time show as it moves away from the sun till it fades.
Scott

[danielsun]

I so far have been shattered that the constant clouds here have barely given me the slightest chance of seeing it.:(

[MrB]

It's not looking good for us sandgropers, cloud moved in about midday today and the BOM is forecasting showers for tomorrow :(

[jjjnettie]

It looks like clear skies for South East Queensland!
I've packed the car, left dinner in the fridge for the boys and I'm heading off early to find a high hill with unobstructed views.
Good luck everyone.

Don't forget the spare batteries Dennis.

[IceAgeComing]

it is perfect tonight, hopefully it's still bright! (do you think it'll be at least a -3?)

[MortonH]

Aagghhh, lots of cloud around Sydney tonight, mainly in the west!

I haven't seen it since Monday, and while I sympathise with those who haven't seen it at all yet, all these photos showing a long tail are making me really jealous!!!

BTW, have you checked out www.spaceweather.com ? There's a picture from the US that supposedly shows the end streamers from the tail - VISIBLE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE!!!


Morton

[IceAgeComing]

for **** sake, i'm about to give up. All day it was a blue dome, just as venus was becoming visible HUGE black clouds came rolling in covering the entire sky. I havn't seen it once. (i'm convinced what i saw last night at the beach was venus)

[fringe_dweller]

that is truly truly amazing, if true, cant see why we cant do the same here? so that is a 10-15 d section of the fainter tail they can see!!!!! there is no emoticons for this situation i'm afraid - this just gets more freaky so now we are up too a 10-15 plus another 25d!! of dust? tail -they look like ion streamers, but they could dust tail synchrones (type III tail)possibly?

[dcnicholls]

Merimbula socked in too.

DN

[CoombellKid]

Well at about 19:00 I think I managed to nab comet Mcnaught twinkling
away in the haze to the west, with venus up to the right. Too light to
see any tail, so that's why I'll just say I think I nab it lol same as last
night crap in the west beautiful in the east.

regards,CS

[dennisjames1]

yay success and wasn't just beautiful and that tail...how's the view at Kilcoy?

[GrahamL]

Just came back from viewing it rob .. I don't think it showed itself till
8.25 or so .. weirdly a jet with a tail stream appeared earlier right
about were it should of been .

[CoombellKid]

I probably meant about 20:00, as I just remembered I have my PC set 1hr
behind, the daylight saving feature in SN does seem to work quite right. It
was pretty much where SNP said it would be. Then clouds came in only a
few minites later, couldn't detect any tail, but the murk low in the west
isn't doing any favours out here. That's why I said I only think I might of
nabbed it.

regards

[MortonH]

Kearn, check out the images just posted before mine in the images thread. The fantail has been imaged from Brisbane, and the picture is way better than the one on Spaceweather.

Morton

[asterix]

Got a great view tonight - had the neighbours and kids over too as I was on my front driveway. It looked best in the 12x50's, curved tail was visible naked eye though. Got some photos I'll put in the image thread.

[badabing82]

hey guys and gals after being out of the astronomy game for many years this comet has sparked my intrest and i got my first view 2night and i have to say it was amazing def better then hale-bobb the tail is much much more impressive. So it even inspired me to take out and dust off my trusty 6inch f5 refractor and the fast f ratio made for amazing viewing. Anyway here's hoping to clear cloud free sky's so we can enjoy this moment for a bit longer.

regards to all Daniel

[WadeH]

Just got in from another fantastic viewing. This makes five consecitive days and nights of clear weather.:D I know they say its slowly faiding but with the later setting it just appears to get brighter. Isnt that long curved tail just amazing? Todays clouds just parted long enough for a half hour look and as it set into the trees up came some clouds again. Still looks fantastic through 10X50's.

[rogerg]

That's pretty good... I thought tonight would be cloudy for sure... there was cloud up where we are all evening, although somewhat thinner wispy stuff.

[jjjnettie]

The view from Kilcoy was outstanding. I found a new viewing spot on top of a hill overlooking the township.
That tail, boy o boy, it just goes on and on.
Even way after the nucleus set, the tail looked like a ray of sunlight coming up from the horizon.
Images in the other thread.
I'm profoundly grateful to have had the chance to experience this.

[MrB]

Clouded out Down here in Rockingham, dang blast dang.
Some of you Perthites may have noticed it a little to the south of the comet?.
I sure noticed It was clear-as just a little further north of me... grrrrr.

Did get to see it for about 3 or 4 mins in a gap in the cloud.
Then another few mins as the head went thru another gap.... with the tail still going thru the previous gap!
I reckon I can see more than 7deg of tail naked eye.
How do I know? coz with the coma sitting on the bottom of the FOV of my 7X50's, the top of the first cloud gap hit the top of the FOV... 7deg.
Got photo's but not developed yet.

This comet is damned impressive, fingers crossed the weather is better tomorrow.

[GrahamL]

glad you got to see it jjj ..hope everyone else gets a shot to

[Jackson42South]

Clouded out in Hobart last two nights. It was looking good late afternoon, but then they rolled in again :(

[John K]

For those of you that are enjoying viewing Comet McNaught spare a thought for us Melbournians.
After having smoke and haze all week long, there is now rain and thundestorms which is forecast to continue well into next week (with perhaps a small break on Monday - maybe).
Brightest comet in 40 years and the best I have been able to do is observe it for a few minutes 1.5 hrs before sunset last Sunday before the haze moved in!

(latest satellite imagery)
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/currentweather/satellites.jsp?state=AUS

[fringe_dweller]

John, that is indeed a horror story, specially since you guys were in a box seat at 40+ south, we are actually getting serious rain/floods atm!! incredible, its fantastic news, its gonna put out all those fires and clear the haze!!!! this show isnt over yet, even when the moon comes back into the evening sky, the mornings look good for a while, and even if its faded! to a mere mag +3 with a bright dust tail, theres still going to be nice opportunities from a dark skies! well heres hoping anyways

edit - i hope to see the rays rising in the mornings even with the aid of binocs/long exposures wouldnt be too upsetting?

[fringe_dweller]

jjj i really loved your observation/report! its been over 260 years since a human has seen such an event, I have been lead to believe!

[fringe_dweller]

interesting to compare the wednesday view/photo of p1 from south africa in the spaceweather shot, just 4 or 5 hours over the indian ocean after the perth images! thats a dramatic improvement or what!

[ving]

saw her again last night. man that tails getting long! :eyepop:

I wanna take more pics... maybe i'll dig up the slr and 200mm lens for saturday if i am not busy. I am so glad to have been part of this event. :D

[fringe_dweller]

excellent David, lucky so and so :) please upgrade your comet club member status to 'black belt' :D
good luck, and wanna see the shots dude!

[CometGuy]

The best views I are still to come, the tail is highly distorted and foreshortened by perspective and the coma is still deep in twilight. Last night the tail curved up and around and back down to the horizon in the north (where it was seen from the northern hemisphere). This is the perspective last night:

http://www.pbase.com/terrylovejoy/image/73225481

Over the next few days the tail should rapidly lengthen and stretch higher into the sky as foreshortening diminishes. Fingers crossed for clear weather all!

Terry

[[1ponders]]

Wow Terry, that is a pretty special shot :cool2:

Fingers Xed

[ving]

I Did It
I Did It
I Did It!!!!!!
:D

[ving]

:party:

Oh yeah!!!
Who's da man!!! :D

I finaly did it!!!!

[Ghul]

Hello
Couple of more shots of Comet Mcnaught.\
Photos taken with canon 350D attachted to 80mm Orion refractor.
Enjoy
Kismet

[ving]

oh incase you are wondering what exactly i did... i conviced cheryl to come see teh comet with me tonight ;)

[IceAgeComing]

I'm still out of luck as illustrated by the attached image, but hey venus was nice! :rolleyes:

[Dennis]

Thanks jjj! I recharged the batteries before going up the hill again last night, Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane that is, and we had some wonderful views of the comet. (Thursday 18th Jan). Thick, dark and at times menacing clouds, played hide and seek with us, but towards dusk they relented to reveal slender strips of blue skies, sandwiched between thinning layers of gloomy grey clouds.

There were throngs of tourists, of all nationalities, as well as a couple of other strangers with small telescopes, so we had quite a gathering for this special event. I had a print out from Starry Night Pro and my compass, so I was the first to pick up Venus, followed a few minutes later by the comet, in the WO 7x50 finder. The news of these sightings brought out the binocular brigade! I have never seen so many instruments appear so suddenly and point so swiftly and synchronously in the same direction – it was quite comical.

I was using the WO 80mm f7 with a Hyperion 21mm eyepiece on a photo tripod with a geared head that allows a crude form of slow mo movement. I had intended to take the WO refractor off the tripod and fit the Pentax DSLR to take some photos, but decided to invite the public to see this rare (for them) event instead. So, although I had freshly charged batteries, there were too many (happy and grateful) customers at the eyepiece – I didn’t want to spoil their enjoyment, nor curtail the excited ooohh’s and aaahh’s in several languages that were floating around the hill!

Anyhow, we all had a great time and it was so nice to see how grateful the public were after looking through the WO 80mm. I was astonished at how consistent people were at saying “thank you”. Those parents that had a peek along with their children, all, without fail, prompted their children to say “thank you” – it seems good manners are alive on the hill when there is a comet and a ‘scope.

I found the naked eye view more pleasing than the telescopic view. The wide open skies and darkening hues of twilight, criss-crossed by tenuous streamers of thin cloud, with the comet standing proudly on end, tail commandingly stretching heavenwards with a fiercely bright nucleus challenging the gossamer thin clouds was just something quite special to drink in with both eyes; the senses not constrained by crouching, instruments or a small field of view.

Through the WO 80mm the tail had a definite fork in it me thinks. Has anyone else seen this?

I later recounted to my wife how I was granted something akin a god-like status by some members of the public, just by having the ‘scope, a printed chart and being able to point out and identify Venus and name the comet. Wow – if only life were that easy!

Cheers

Dennis

[cometcatcher]

It's all a big conspiracy! :mad2: Mackay has it's own personal cloud that will not go away. It's all the aliens fault!

I think I may have spied it last night through this cloud (not). I dunno, the coma seemed to be pointing it's tongue at me!

Rotten cloud. :mad2: :cloudy:

Well here's my, cough, photo of it. Looks like it's the only one I'm going to get. :sadeyes:

[glenc]

Saw Comet McNaught 2006 P1 from 8:30pm to 9:15pm DST (GMT+11) tonight with the naked eye, 7x50s, 20x80s and using a 12" Dob with a 1.5 degree field. With the naked eye the tail was up to upsilon PsA. That is about 20 degrees long. It was like an aurora with five or six parallel parts. It was about 13 deg wide and 15 deg high!!! :eyepop::eyepop::eyepop:

[[1ponders]]

That looks like the same cloud we had here tonight, Kevin:lol:

[Earl]

Great views from the southern part of Sydney. Even with the smoggy view, the tail was at least 10 degrees long.

I've seen all the "nekid" eye comets since Halley and never seen anything like this. Amazing.

- Earl

[CometGuy]

The comet is definitely getting better each night as it moves higher into a dark sky. Tonight I stayed at home and had to contend with moderate light pollution but it was still impressive (one of my neighbours walked over and was thrilled to see the tail). The attached photo shows the tail with a 35mm f3.5 lens + 300D.

Terry

[[1ponders]]

Jees Terry, where did you get that clear sky from :eyepop:

Nice Rooster tail :thumbsup:

[Grinz]

Kevin - sometimes I have the idea the word "cloud" should have been a 4-letter word.:cloudy:

Yesterday was a perfect sunny day here. An hour before sunset the clouds rolled in. It rained until 22:00. The comet would have set here at around 21:00. Go figure.

Today it is again a perfect sunny day. I'll not get excited until 19:00, by which time I hope to be down at the beach with binoculars, coffee and... a clear view. I live in hope. Saw it once, on Sunday, briefly, in a break in the clouds. On Wednesday it was perfectly clear come sunset. I was in a meeting. :eek:

Let's hope the weekend will bring clear skies both sides of the Pacific :astron:

The thought has just struck me: with McNaught having been discovered by an Australian and we here in the South seeing so much of it, the Australians can currently cash in on that song from the Wizard of Oz:

"I'm off to see the comet, the wonderful comet of Oz..."

*warm smile in the direction of all my (new) Aussie-Astro friends*

[Grinz]

:thumbsup: Dennis - Just wanted to say I loved your obs report!

[MrB]

WOW

No clouds tonight, brilliant, but the breeze was very strong so dunno how my photo's will come out.

I swear that when the sky darkened enough, and the coma was a few degree's above the horizon(Indian Ocean), I could see the tail wrap right down and disappear below the horizon. My mum said she could see the same thing.

Amazing.

[glenc]

Terry can we have a larger copy of your latest image.
(The attached photo shows the tail with a 35mm f3.5 lens + 300D.)
It looks great. :thumbsup:

[CometGuy]

Glen,

Here it is,

http://www.pbase.com/image/73259497

To the naked eye it wasn't quite as distinct as the image suggests, but still easily visible and my neighbour had no problem seeing it when I pointed it out (and his reaction was true amazement!)

Terry

[glenc]

Thanks Terry. I saw the tail out as far as upsilon PsA with the naked eye, about 20 degrees in a straight line from the coma.

[Grinz]

There are no words to describe this comet.

I had my first really good look at McNaught tonight overlooking Table Bay. I did see it on Sunday for the first time, but it was through cloud, or rather, the comet was dodging the clouds and I saw it just for a short while. Now that it is a bit higher, it is unbelievable. The comet dominated the sky after sunset and you had to be blind not to see it naked eye. I am totally stunned.:eyepop: Gobsmacked. A bit in shock.

I also estimated the tail at probably approaching 20 degrees since yes, it stretched to very close to Al Nair. Naked eye the "rooster's tail" fan was quite apparent, with binoculars it was unbelievable.


I don't have brilliant photographic equipment or skills for this purpose, but I did manage some shots. One problem was that the wind was blowing very hard and even a secured tripod was not easy to keep 100% steady.


I am really a bit in shock. This is so totally amazing - I have never seen anything like this. For once something is exceeding all expectations.

[AaronS]

I have been quietly reading the threads in this forum since last Friday, extremely disappointed that I was yet to see the comet. That changed last night - clear skies and what a sight! It was visible from about 8.15 and the end of the tail was still visible above the horizon around 10.00. It is the first time I have seen a comet of this (metaphorical and literal) magnitude. After seeing photos of Halleys 1910 visit I was a disappointed 10 year old in 1986. I have been waiting for something like this since and I feel extremely priviliged. Lets hope she hangs around with such an awesome display for those yet to see her. Good luck everyone. It would be worth driving a few hours to get around the cloud, if possible, to see this. WOW!

[jjjnettie]

Hey Lee and Aaron, Congratulations! It's about time you had a chance to see the comet.
Isn't it just the best thing you've ever seen in the night sky?

[jjjnettie]

My non-astronomical husband has to be forced to even look at the pictures.
I tricked him and plugged the camera's into the telly and made him watch it from there.

[IceAgeComing]

cloudy again atm
this comet doesn't exist for me until I see it with my own eyes 0_0

[DaveR]

I tried spotting the comet last Sunday & Monday on the beach in Perth but had the same experience as the other 200+ people ie no chance through the clouds.
Tuesday flew to Canberra for work so clouds cleared in Perth but settled into Canberra. :mad2:
Arrived at airport to come home Friday night with an idea of seeking a window seat with a southern view but failed - was given right side ie northern window!:sadeyes:
Get on the plane and found my whole row empty, so shuffled across straight after take off:D
Approximately midway into flight spotted the comet. View out the window was almost surreal with a line of thunderheads providing a light show below, a sunset of glorious red/orange and Venus burning brightly above and the comet in the centre.
However, the best was later in the flight as the sky darkened.
I gave up all pretense of normal behaviour and put the blanket over my head to block all the stray light as I peered out the window.
The view was amazing with the fan of the tail extending over half the way to Venus and appearing to extend beyond Venus with averted vision. I could see structure in the fan with what appeared to be radial spokes extending from a more consistent tail. Truly awesome. Other gain is the I got see it for over 2 hours as the plane was heading almost due west thereby extending twilight.
Another nice thing was the pilot announced the view and nearly everyone on the plane had a good look. Only downside was that I did not have a camera.

[callumstuart]

ive now seen it 3 times, on the 16th, 17th and again last night on the 19th. on the 17th i took my 7" newtonian to a lookout and the people all lined up to have a look! if it wasnt for a bit of cloud it wouldve been perfect.
im just wondering what sort of magnitude to expect tonight? (the 20th)

[mickoking]

Saw the comet last night, in two words BLOODY UNREAL :thumbsup: It was there hovering above the horizon and it was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen in the night sky. I had a look thru my short tube but most of the time I was just viewing it with my eyes alone. Luckily I didn't have to travel far just to the road out side my house, SWEET :) I will have another good look tonight with a beer or two, I hope it hasn't faded to much, fingers crossed.

[fringe_dweller]

great reports all - keep 'em coming!
for those who still havent seen it, dont despair just yet, I went thru a similar experience with wm1, another *very rare* dusty comet - and that was still an amazing view, even tho it had faded to mag +5, with a 5d dust tail, dust tails are very resilent, and a circumpolar!! 40!!!( 20d wide!!!) degree dust tail (which still cant see in its entirety!) will be an amazing binocular, telescopic sight from dark skies for quite a while to come ;) even with bright near full moon affected views, the binoclar and telescopic views were incredible!! (washed out the film shots a fair bit of course) and with gradient removal techniques on digital stuff, i cant see a problem?
EDIT and v1 also, at +4, 5 mag at very low altitude!, with a 5d dust tail was also a magnificent binocular/ telecopic/photgraphic object!

[AstroJunk]

Did ya see that tail!!!

I've posted a pic here

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=16663

Can't wait for tomorrow - it just gets better:thumbsup:

[matt]

McNaught was simply amazing viewed from Canberra tonight.

The tail was huuuuuuuuge!!!!And the head was wickedly bright.

We found it with 10x50 binos shortly after 8pm and it became easy naked eye shortly after.

On sunset the tail revealed itself naked eye and then the show really began.

The darker the sky became the brighter the whole comet became.

By shortly after nine it was breathtaking. Many degrees long and as bright as anything in the sky.

I'm still in shock:thumbsup:

What a show

[mickoking]

Your getting me excited Matt :party: Still waiting for nightfall in the west.

[matt]

Be excited, Mick.

If you get the same view we've enjoyed tonight you'll end up in the same breathless state!:lol:

Fingers crossed for you, mate:thumbsup:

[MaxinAus]

Amazing sight in Merimbula tonight, very bright and long tail. I took some shots of it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/maxm3/cometMcN1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/maxm3/cometMcN2.jpg

[bobtuc47]

We need the rain in South Oz but all of the clouds.I had a 5 second look with 10x50's .I ran to get the camera . It had gone when i got back! *+&^$#! clouds

[mickoking]

Its pretty awsome. I am going out again to take some more images as it is just starting to get dark out west.

[badabing82]

Hale-Bobb eat ur heart out. That was amazing just came in and this is just getting bettttter as it moves into darker skies the tail is amazinglyyyyyy longggg the beauty of this is it looks better naked eye then it does with either a telescope or binos amazingggggg......

[mickoking]

I agree. This is naked eye stuff. I have only briefly observed it with a scope.

[WadeH]

What can I say, I am just speachless after that. The tail must be all of about 50 degrees long and 12 or more wide. :eyepop: Is there going to be any end to this amazing spectical. I had no hope of fitting it all in the FOV for my 55mm lens on my SLR, film unfortunatly. I agree, forget the binoculars, it is definatly a naked eye event now. This is now day 7 of great viewing weather from Bullsbrook, Western Australia.:D

[WadeH]

Oh, and by the way, how was that day old cresant moon next to Venus. Talk about a show tonight!

[AstroJunk]

I was lucky and still lived up north for H-B. McN has a way to go to beat it, but now that tail is developing it may just get there - and it's getting pretty close!!!

[MrB]

Awesome views over the Sea from Rocko tonight.
Confirmed my belief from last night that I could see the tail curve right back down onto the horizon naked eye. No light polution out over the water :D

Used my crappy digital to show this, see the comet images thread.

[erick]

Great report, Dave! :thumbsup: Our world's gone mad! Don't you just love it!! :D

[glenc]

The tail was about 30 degrees long last night with the naked eye.
It went from the coma to epsilon PsA which is 28.5 degrees in a straight line.
The distance around the curve was longer than that.
20/1/07 at 9pm. (GMT+11)

The second image by Vello Tabur shows it well.
http://members.tip.net.au/%7Evello/2006p1/2006p1.htm

[firstlight]

I didn't see H-B in the north, but I know from the images I've seen that that was a truely amazing object. For me Comet Hyakutake, the Great Comet of 1996, was the best one I have consiously observed. There was always Ikea-Seki when I was 4 yo and I didn't know what was following the Sun behind the hill near home... THAT day has stayed with me... I hope to see another like it. This one is very nice indeed.

Tony

[Astroman]

Its a shame the earth doesnt pass through all that tail, would make an awesome Meteor Storm display... would exceed the 1933 - 1966 Leonids

[sharppete]

SAW COMET FOR 1ST TIME SAT 20TH CLEARLY VISABLE WITH NAKED EYE LONG TAIL AND VERY BRIGHT WILL IT BE VISABLE AGAIN TONIGHT 21ST.:eyepop:

[Ric]

Hi all, I finally got to see McNaught last night. The sky was clear of clouds and smoke haze and bingo there she was in all her glory :eyepop: , absolutely bloody fantastic, everything I had expected :cool:
I also had my scope set up and was treated to a great view of the nucleus as well :astron:
I am hoping that tonight will be clear as well and I'll have a go at some images as well :camera:. Unfortunately the clouds are back at the moment.:mad2:

Cheers

[matt]

Wasn't it breathtaking, Ric?

I'm glad you got to see it last night, because last night was really something special.

[Ric]

Sure was Matt, I'm a happy chappy now.
It is definitely a sight not to be missed.

Cheers

[fringe_dweller]

after witnessing from darkish skies, the extent of the ill-defined part of larger part of the northern section of the glow/tail growing 40d+ plus in height and 50d+ to the north, and still growing!! when we left around 10:30 pm, one has to wonder how that will affect images and observations from all sorts of sources, of the southern objects as it becomes circumpolar, is this a new form of temporary lightpollution!? weird!

[CometGuy]

Had a marvelous view last night from near Warwick QLD. I saw Hyakutake near its best in perfect conditions and also Hale-Bopp under excellent conditions from the Rocky Mountains in the US and can definitely say that McNaught is a more spectacular comet than either comet. McNaughts tail is larger and brighter than either HB or Hyakutake.

It was a long time coming but we finally got the Great Southern Comet!

Terry

[mickoking]

I had another look last night. This comet continues to impress. I'll be back on the roof again tonight :thumbsup:

[CometGuy]

Kearn,

I attempted to make some brightness estimates of the tail last night be defocusing mag 1.7 Alnair above. To my eyes much of the vertical section of tail was more intense than the Alnair defocused 1/2 degree or so (and Alnair was higher!). I haven't done the numbers but the total brightness of the tail must be much brighter than Venus. I got the impression last night that the coma was not overally prominent compared to the tail, but it was still mag -0.5 according to my estimations. My images last night also show a clear reflection over a lake, even though the surface was choppy.

Terry

[CoombellKid]

You can almost feel the vib of envy seeping down from the northern hemisphere.

regards,CS

[mickoking]

They have Polaris what more do they want :rofl:

[fringe_dweller]

Hi Terry,
wow! thats very interesting!! excellent and examplary obs as usual! :)

Stewart's exclaimed straight away woah! thats an easy mag 0 on the 10 or so degrees of the earlier naked eye vertical eminating from the blazing head! *at an immediate impression level* and I agreed, altho I couldnt believe that to be true!, so thought maybe between 0 and +2 as a conservative value, but after reading your much more thorough examination of total brightness (ours was done very roughly on the fly between clouds and wiping seasalt? and rain from our face)
I also agree wholeheartedly the mid wider/higher section of the non stem tail, roughly, was much brighter than the milky way!!, as you mentioned ina an earlier report from friday/thursday?
btw the main straighter defined tail, stemming from the head (that started at around NE 10+d ) and reached over NE 30d in height (EDIT:from the horizon -Stewart dexcribed as a 'searchlight' agreed - altho the last 20 d wasnt as bright as the first 10d of course) by the time we left!!! - keeping its straight appearence and only arcing at the top - that was a very unusual sight experience indeed! it just kept filling in the in the growing arc!!
edit: hmmm just thinking, we thought the head was still much brighter than the first part of the tail still!? just our impression tho - not exactly proper obs

[MrB]

I'll go along with that.

[Apocrisiary]

Ahhhh...but don't forget that magnitudes (for extended objects) are based on the brightness of the object if you squished all the light down to a point source. Eg: The Helix which has a magnitude of 6.5 spread over its 960 arc sec diameter makes it appear quite dim (low surface brightness).
Now does anyone want to make an estimate of the area of sky covered by the comet in arc seconds?
From that we can work out comet's magnitude to be??? :eyepop:
If anyone can do the calculations I would be interested to know.

[fringe_dweller]

Thats true of course Apocisiary! :)
I would just add 'officially' a comets 'magnitude' is a term only that applies to the brightness of the head of course, but on your suggestion it would be very cool to know what total area brightness got to/gets to? is there more to come even!? this gets stranger and stranger! I like comet stats :) some people love cricket/footy stats - i like comet statistics too :D

[Apocrisiary]

I know that's not how it is measured officially but thought it would be an interesting calculation when you consider the enormous area over which the tail is visible.
A truely extraordinary sight indeed. I feel frustrated for the people who haven't been able to get out and see it yet.

[mickoking]

On the countdown to tonights view. I noticed a few clouds on the western horizon, hope its not too distracting. I hope all goes well for those who haven't seen the comet yet :thumbsup: may all have clear skies.

[matt]

I second that, Mick.

I feel fortunate to have viewed this comet twice.

I hope those who haven't had the opportunity yet get a chance very soon:)

[swannies1983]

My countdown is still going. I get back to Adelaide from Europe on Australia Day. I hope the comet is still performing well when I get back!!

[badabing82]

Have to agree here HB was brighter but more condensed while Hyakutake was dimmer i have to agree that Mcnaught is a good balance. anyway clear sky's to all time for viewing yeehaaaaa:P

[AstroJunk]

H-B and McN are just too diferent for easy comparison.

H-B was absolutely magnificent, dominating the winter skies in the northern hemisphere for months - bright, massive and two amazing tails.

McN on the other hand has turned out to be celestial firework gyrating across the skies in an almost improbable manner. Short lived, difficult but quite incredible.

I'm just pleased to have seen them both at their best!!!

[davidpretorius]

ok, got to drop my jaw at this one tonight

i estimate 25+ degrees from head to tail and 7 - 10 degrees wide at the top.

this dominated the night sky!!!


WOW

[Ric]

Got my second viewing of McNaught tonight, there was a great window between two cloud banks and it was just as spectacular.
Sometimes amateur astronomy is just the bee's knees.

Cheers

[MrB]

Yep, said cloud bank obscured my view. Didn't even bother leaving home tonight, for the first time in a week! Did see a small amount of tail above the cloud tho.

Still, two bad nights and five good ones to date, I'm happy :D

[Grinz]

Hello all - last evening after coming back from another look at this amazing comet I was feeling quite disoriented - almost too much of a high. We here were also treated at the same time with a most striking and beautiful occultation of Venus: imagine a view of Table Bay with the comet blazing close to the mountain towards the Southwest and Venus suddenly peeking out from the small crescent of the moon at the Northwestern side. Quite, quite lovely. My simple digital camera could not capture the scene, but some of my observing buddies took pictures and I will share one here with you once I have seen their photos.

McNaught truly is special. The coma is nice through a scope, but I agree with the rest of you - it is its naked eye splendour and the finer details of the seemlingly endless tail via binoculars that grip the imagination.

[badabing82]

I Envy you!!!! haha i was looking more from the point of view of the southern hemisphere observer...H-B in the states would have been amazingggg....
Whats does everyone think will Mcnaught become a better photo graphic target even not as bright but in fully dark sky's near the zenith? some of the photo's have been amazingggggggg....

Regards Daniel:eyepop:

[horst]

Awesome
that's one of my favourite APOTDs from last year
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061030.html

[Outbackmanyep]

Well i know my post is a bit late but every day after work for the past 8 days i have been out looking at P1.........words cant describe exactly how awesome the sight was....especially seeing the synchrones for the first time!
As a regular comet watcher its been a fantastic experience.....i've had awesome dark country skies here in Walcha and the comet is something i will NEVER forget.....
I'm photographing at every opportunity and its great to see so many excellent pics coming out of this whole thing from everyone involved!

Have clouds and thunderstorms here at the moment and im hoping they'd go away!!!.....
Hope to have my pics developed very soon!!!!!

Cheers!
Chris

[Grinz]

Thanks for the link to that picture, Horst.
Here's one that I took - not a brilliant camera set-up but you get the idea.

It really was awesome to see that and McNaught at the same time.

[mickoking]

Lat night I managed to view and image the comet despite the cloud bank. Looks like its going to do the same tonight. Even if I never see the comet again I had perfectly clear nights on the 19th (visual) and 20th (imaging). I am a happy chappy :)

[swannies1983]

Can someone please give me an estimate of the current magnitude. Has it noticeably been fading over the last few days? Is it expected to dim rapidly over the coming days?

[davidpretorius]

well swannie, i would estimate the same as sirius -1 for the head, and then the tail.....well not sure

[mickoking]

I reckon it will be about 0 mag tonight. But then again comets are unpredictable things.

[MrB]

Well, was a great day today, 'till the clouds started rolling in!
Hopefully It'll clear up some.

My B+W film photo's from the 20'th look alright thru the slide viewer, can anyone in Perth with a decent neg. scanner give me a hand and scan 'em for me?

[IceAgeComing]

yay finally saw it for about 2 minutes before it ducked behind the only cloud in the sky

[brett]

stunning tonight

[The FishMan]

I saw it but the directions I was given to find it was further left than where I expected it to be. I am in Ivanhoe, Victoria.

[chrisp9au]

What an absolutely glorious sight! Memories of 1965 come flooding back. I was 20 then, on board a cargo ship, the Port New Plymouth, crossing the Pacific heading for Panama, comet Ikeya-Seki stretched out across the sky beside Corvus the Crow. I still have my copy of Nortons Star Atlas with the comets path pencilled in. I was completing a deck apprenticeship, studying navigation. Knew all the stars for navigation but wasn't much interested in anything else in the night sky, but Ikeya-Seki changed all that! Tonight, after an agonising week waiting for cloud and smoke to go away, there was that magical sight again! Inspirational, emotional, made me feel 20 again! And to think that most people are sitting watching TV oblivious to the beauty and wonder of the night sky outside!
Thank you Kaoru Ikeya, thank you Tsutomu Seki, good on ya Rob McNaught!
:bowdown:
Chris

[jjjnettie]

On 612 ABC local radio this morning, during the Astronomy segment with a prominent Astronomer, we were informed that Comet McNaught is no longer of interest. Nothing to see, move along to the next thing.
I don't know about you guys, but I reckon that this Comet's Grande Finale is truely special.
Needless to say I rang up the station and politely explained that they were talking codwallop and McNaught is still a naked eye object that is well worth taking the time to see.
I don't think they believed me.
But I couldn't let them get away with it.

[gaa_ian]

Good on you Nettie :thumbsup:
Interestingly I just heard on the National ABC Radio news (10pm CST) a big plug for Comet Mcnaught, explaining that it has just become visible in VIC after the rains have cleared the smoke & the clouds have dispersed.

[badabing82]

On a side note did anyone out west read the sunday times and the full page spread of photo's??? some where amazing how about the one from southern chile that was truly spectacular oh how i wish i was a bit further south hahahaha:D:D:D:D

[Gavan Butler]

amazing! the most incredible astronomical sight I have ever seen.
bright core visible through 10x 50mm binos. tail easily 40 deg long by 25 deg wide with naked eye.
dark sky site on coast near Inverloch Vic.
can't wait for tomorrow night.
clear skies!

[Grinz]

Maybe I should ask this question elswhere (the mods could move if inappropriate here)...

For the moment I am in awe at the sight of McNaught, but while I was looking at that spectacular tail, I was just wondering: but does anyone have information yet on if and when McNaught will result in (I expect spectacular!?) meteor shower? Can't find one of those animations that show the comet's orbit in relation to the Earth's - but maybe one of you have seen/read something?

[MrB]

Something like THIS (http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/%7Ermn/C2006P1.htm)?
(scroll about 1/3 the way down the page, just after 'How Bright?')

Hope that helps.

[glenc]

The naked eye tail of Comet McNaught was 33 degrees high last night. The main part curved around to the left of alpha and beta Gru. Another part of it was visible between iota Phe and beta Scl. It is like a steam train puffing out smoke as it goes.

[cristian abarca]

Finally the clouds cleared here in Melbourne. Went down to the beach and at about 9.30 pm there it was. Beautiful sight. Came back home an realised that I could see it clearly from my front yard. Brilliant.

Regards Cristian

[iceman]

Glad that you Melbournites finally got to see it last night!

jjjnetttie, good on you! I can't believe the media gave up on it a week ago.. it's much more spectacular now than it was back then.

[Ric]

Great going JJJ, I think the media have been pretty slack on this event. The only mention that I have seen or heard is a one minute segment about 2 weeks ago.

Cheers

[blueskies123_89]

Hi I saw the comet last night (Finally! after a week of clouds for Melbourne). Just a few questions about this - from some photographs you can see the western parts of the tail curving all the way back to the horizon, in segments, I think these are streamers but can someone explain this to me?

Second, anyone noticing that towards the west of the head of the comet, there is a visible extension going out in a different direction from the tail, what is that?

clear skies

[matt]

Ric

There was a segment just last night on WinTV!!!!

I've seen maybe 4 "bits" all up on various channels the last week or so.

Just coz you ain't seen/heard 'em...doesn't mean they're not getting done.

As a journo of almost 20 years and an astronomer of even longer (;))
I have to say that generally, to the everyday media, this is not an event that is likely to garner more than a few stories here and there.

You'll get a heads-up story, a comet at its best story, and perhaps a wrap-up piece.

Then, as a journo, you move on to other stories which are "breaking" and are "new(s)"

Keep in mind that to the average person (to whom most of these news bulletins are pitched) this sort of stuff is really just a passing curiosity and not of massive interest.

Sad but true. As much as we'd like to think everyone else is as fascinated as we are, they're just not.

[John K]

Well after over 1 week of cloud, smoke and haze here in Melbourne the sky cleared for a glorious night.
Drove 45 mins west, out on a hill past Bacchus Marsh, with the comet being in a dark SW part of the sky well away from the glow of Gellong and Ballarat to an awsome sight.
After some early concerns about not finding it in binoculars, it ended up being precisely where it was suppost to be and finally found it in my 10 x 50's at 9.15pm. By 10pm it was a glorious sight! Holy cow! That tail was amazing! Up to 25 degrees, and we we could actually see to 2 parts to the tail, with the major part having large streaming vertical sections brighter than the LMC and milkyway. The front coma had a large triangular section pointing away from the coma at around 45 degrees.
Took about 70 photos with my new 400D and a mate's borrowed 100-300mm Sigma lens which I will process shortly!
Compared to Hyakytake I actually through that the comet was slightly brighter with more structure in the tail but with a far smaller coma. I cannot even imagine what this thing would be like if it got as close as Hyakytake! Awasome! and well worth waiting the last 9 days to see it! Hope that it stays bright when it becomes circumpolar.

[Ric]

Hi Matt, I missed the WinTV segment.
What you were saying is correct, I just have this utopian view of things sometimes and felt that such a spectacle would warrant more attention.
A one hour special with interviews with Mr McNaught would have done nicely:) .

Sadly it's true that some of the general public are just not interested in the way that we are. I have been doing my best around my workplace to promote interest by putting location maps on the notice boards but looking at the comments written on them it was probably a wasted effort on some people.

On a lighter note I wrote to the ABC a few years back asking them if they could add a endnote to the weather and show some detailed cloud maps of our local region for amateur astronomers. I was chuffed to recieve a reply a few weeks later thanking me but saying they were unable to do this due to time constraints. Still no harm in trying I suppose.

Cheers :D

[matt]

Good for you, Ric.

You're right, of course. There is absolutely no harm in trying.

I too wish there was more astro "stuff" presented in the mainstream media. Probably as much as most other interest groups wish there was more of their "stuff" in the media as well.

I guess that's why we spend so much time on IIS, where we are very nicely catered for:)

[astrofer1966]

Hello Friends:

I'm Fernando from Montevideo, Uruguay.
At 1 hour past I observe the comet. Are the tail more small than yesterday???
Many Regards;)

[jjjnettie]

LOL.
I made postcard sized handouts with a current picture and mentioned when and where to look for it. I put it on notice boards in the Pubs, the Rural Supplies and Feed store ( they were interested and made more copies to hand out to customers ) and then gave the rest to a few people I know in town.
I felt quite white and nerdy doing it, but what the hell.

[iceman]

At Karate last night I heard one of the teenagers talking about it, trying to explain to someone else where to look for it (he hadn't seen it yet either).

I gave them the facts.. where to look, what time etc :)

Events like this are great for astronomy.. gets people looking up!

[jjjnettie]

You've got to spread the Word brother.

[erick]

Where I set up last night a few others gathered with cameras etc. By 9pm they were ready to go home, but I said, wait a while (while wondering where it was myself - not having been able to track it - location and magnitude - for over a week!). Then around 9:15, I picked it out with the binos. Later one guy came up to me and thanked me for encouraging them not to give up. :)

[mickoking]

I think a lot of people are more interested in the goings on of Paris Hilton than an awsome display of nature, Sign of the times I guess :shrug:

[ving]

gah! we have teh mexicans (aka grizwalds) up over the hols and yesterday they decided they wanted to see teh comet... guess what! clouds :(

[astropat]

I still can't see the comet in Brisbane (around 7pm). I guess it may be the buildings blocking the view (although I went up a hill to try overcome that). Does anyone have any suggestion on the location to see it? Besides, is 7pm the best time to see it?

[entilzah]

finaly after over a week of overcast skys ith skys cleared in north tas so last night i went comet hunting couldnt find it until about 9:40 and after that the view just got better and better was worth the wait

[netwolf]

Moments in life that humble even the giants amongst us and make them speechless. Moments when the heavens open up and unleash there wonder to the naked eye. Moments when the heavens share for all to witness. Moments when we become equal in humility at the awesomeness of the universe. Moments such as these are rare and precious. Even when they pass they leave us with the knowledge that behind that dark curtain of space lie in wait many more wonders. And one hopes a desire to seek out those wonders.

In this age when more than ever the world stands at the brink of war, when violence abounds the earth and innocence dies in the blink of an eye. When man suspects everything and everyone. In this age we are rewarded with a wonder to humble us and remind us how small we are. How fragile we are.

Then comes news of the heroes those rare men and women who fight an enemy with the very essence of life water. They fight the fires that rage for the safe keeping of others. They walk into the flames with fear but defiant, they are the unsung courages heroes of our times. They give us hope that there will be a tomorrow to see more wonders of this universe.

Regards
Fahim

[Rodstar]

After having seen some great views of the Comet at the IIS Lostock starparty, I managed to cajole my wife (and the kids) into coming up to Peats Ridge, 20 mins from Gosford, to see the Comet last night.

It was great to be joined by Rocket Boy and two of his boys, together with about 8 or 9 interested locals. One of them was an old bloke who had been trying to find the comet all week, without knowing where he should be looking. Another was a teenager, who stopped to see what all the fuss was about, and was so blown away, he raced off to get his sister (and the rest of the family), and returned promptly with all of them!

The newcomers to astronomy quickly learnt how important dark adaption is. Much to our amazement, annoyance and bemusement (all at once), another person pulled up their vehicle with headlights blinding us, hopped out of his car, took a leak, and then carried on his way. He was completely oblivious to the band of spectators.

AFter having viewed the comet for about 30 minutes, my wife, who has zero interest in our great hobby, was heard to say something to the effect, " I am really glad I came". Now THAT is a miracle.

In terms of the appearance of said comet, having previously viewed the comet last Monday, Friday and Saturday nights, the comet definitely appeared to have past its maximum brightness, which from my observations seemed to be reached last Saturday night.

[CometGuy]

The comet is holding its brightness well though. I expect it will still be a good naked eye object of magnitude 3 as the moon moves out of the sky in early February. I suspect it will still have a long dust tail as well.

Terry

[Grinz]

Hi all - there has been quite a bit of coverage in the media, among others because some of them know me. Many pictures published. Also, we had hundreds of people joining us on the beaches all over the Cape during the past few clear evenings and even people who are normally not at all interested in "looking up" have done so and are busily taking pictures. Rodstar, my sister and her husband are in the same category as your wife and they did not only come and look, but stayed for more than an hour and loved the experience.

Of course many (I guess the majority by some margin) still don't know and do not care. But we at our club have had some "I think I discovered a comet!" e-mails and calls and also a lot of people simply stopping by, looking at what we were looking at and then staying for a while and saying that they will also tell their friends & family to look.

BTW Netwolf, I loved your thoughtful and well-written post!

Just wish I could send a "real personal look" of McNaught to some of my astro friends in the Northern Hemisphere. Many of them seem to think or assume that it has now faded and is no longer of interest (perhaps because they cannot see it themselves - understandable in a way). This is something that I wish all of the planet could see at its best (OK, possibly getting to be past its best although we don't really want to believe that yet...:( )

BTW I see the information I fed into my planetarium program had it at mag 6 yesterday and 6.3 today. No ways! The brightness has definitely been underestimated. What do your projections tell you? (I use Skymap Pro)

Final word from me today: how do we do the right kind of cloud dance that will ensure a thick cloud in front of the moon for the next 10 days or so - while leaving the area around the comet clear of course? Anyone in NZ know the right Haka or something? For once this Springbok supporter will stomp & shout and dance along with you if it works - but just right, as ordered above... :cloudy: Mind you ONLY in the right spot, nowhere else.:D

[gaa_ian]

Good on you Nettie & Ric, great public outreach work there !
Well, we had a clearish night here but to my disappointment we could not see the comet ?
It must be lower on the horizon that i expected or else the distant thunderstorms in that direction were interfering, obviously a lot lower than at Lostock :shrug:
Have any other Far North Australian observers (IE: Cairns or north) seen Ncnaught ?

[timtam]

Hi, I am new to this forum but have been lurking since Comet McNaught has appeared. Sadly I live in Townsville and the past two weeks we have had cloud cover no end :( . Tonight we drove west as we saw a break in the clouds where the sun was setting but alas once again cloud rolled in and spoiled our fun. I did see what looked like the end of the tail.:shrug: but not really certain, it almost looked like diffused torch light coming from the horizon and was in the position that it should of been IYKWIM. Anyhow, we have still not given up hope, any tips as to WHAT to look for would be greatly appreciated. TAM:)