Hi All,
IAU circular 9071 announces the discovery of C/2009 R1 (McNaught)
Well done to Rob, who has dug up yet another comet.
This one has quite good prospects for amateur observers (bear in mind the orbital elements are still being refined -- subject to change). It has the potential to become a good binocular or even a naked eye object. The perihelion distance is quite small (about 0.4 A.U) meaning it will get close to the Sun and may produce a nice tail. Reaches perihelion in early July 2010 in Auriga. Has the potential to become reasonably bright however ...
Unfortunately, it is a high inclination orbit and it seems the best of it could end up being best seen from the northern hemisphere ...
Here is the page with the orbital elements and an ephemeris.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/Ephem...ts/2009R1.html
One to keep a close eye on ...
Best,
Les D