If you’re not seen Comet McNaught, then you’ve missed a spectacular sight. I took a couple of photos Sunday night from the roof of our building but the photos are not great. The lights from the nearby Clarín building are way too bright and there’s not an interesting foreground. Also, the photos are really grainy but it gives you an idea of the size and brightness of the comet. Oh, how I wish to live in dark sky country.
For the story behind how the comet was first spotted late last year, see the home page of its namesake Rob McNaught who spends his time in Australia searching the southern sky for asteroids and comets that pass close to earth. There’s some fascinating stuff on that site if you’re at all interested in astronomy. Another history of the comet along with a spectacular photo from Australia on Gary W. Kronk’s Cometography site, including some images of the comet visible in broad daylight.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:32 pm
[…] Both Robert Wright and Jeff Barry were able to photograph Comet McNaught as it passed over Buenos Aires’ Sunday night sky and provide some valuable links for more info on the comet. David Sasaki […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Those pictures are pretty cool,in the east coast of the states we didn’t get to see it.
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Oh! What a shame…. i couldn´t seen it…
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Excellent pictures !
Will people in Northern hemisphere (i.e. at 25 degree North Latitude, 67 degree East Longitude)ber able to catch glimpses of this comet ?
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I think that the comet was only visible in the northern hemisphere during the first part of January.