Jan. 8, 2007 — The newly discovered Comet McNaught is putting on a surprisingly bright show this week as it
nears its closest approach to the sun.
In just a few days it has begun throwing off material that has brightened it to the point
where it's visible to the naked eye just after sunset.
"It's really a beauty," said astrophotographer Doug Zubenel of De Soto,
Kansas.
De Soto has been watching McNaught for a few nights and said that
Sunday night it was not only considerably brighter, but it had a new
"hood" of material that's being boiled off the sun-facing side of the
comet and blown back into the delta-shaped tail by the solar wind.
"It's really getting cooked," said Zubenel, who is also a member of the
Astronomical Society of Kansas City.
To see McNaught you need a clear sky and an unobstructed view of
the western horizon. The further north you are, the easier the comet
will be to see.
In the early evening hours, a scan of the horizon just left of due west with binoculars should reveal Comet McNaught as a blurry object with a noticeable tail extending upwards.
After locating the comet with binoculars, it should be possible to make it out with the naked eye and then train a telescope on it — if one is
available. Binoculars may not even be necessary if
the brightening trend continues.
"Tonight it should be really bright," said Pat Boomer, another
astrophotographer who captured stunning digital images of McNaught on
Sunday from south-central Alberta, Canada. He hopes to take more
pictures Monday night.
Boomer's trick to taking the pictures is to use a digital camera with a
300-millimeter telescopic lens mounted to his car. The camera sends
images to his laptop inside the car, where he sits very still so as not
to shake the car and spoil the shot.
