The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla
Photos of comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) by its discoverer
Jan. 20, 2007 | 12:09 PST | 20:09 UTC
It seems fitting that some of the most glorious images I've seen of comet McNaught were taken at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia by the comet's discoverer, Rob McNaught. There's a large gallery of images on the Siding Spring website. Here's my favorite: Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught)This photo of comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) was taken by the comet's discoverer, Rob McNaught, on January 20, 2007, from the Siding Spring Observatory in northern Australia. The tail stretches more than 15 degrees across the sky. Credit: R. H. McNaught, Siding Spring Observatory |
The comet is putting on a much better show for southern hemisphere observers than it did for northern hemisphere observers. However, the tail is so incredibly long now (stretching 15-plus degrees across the sky) that it actually reaches far enough to still be visible to northern hemisphere observers.Comet McNaught's tail visible in the northern hemisphereThis photo of the tail of comet McNaught (the faint vertical streamers crossing behind the clouds) was taken in northern Italy, days after the comet's nucleus had passed to southern skies. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo |
In related news, according to the most recent rover update, both Spirit and Opportunity have been commanded to attempt to photograph McNaught in their skies. The comet won't look as large from Mars, but I think that any image of a comet from our remote geologist astronomers on Mars would be cool.
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