a bright comet

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rod Van Meter <rdv () tera ics keio ac jp>
Date: January 9, 2007 8:07:27 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: a bright comet
Reply-To: rdv () tera ics keio ac jp

Hi Dave, for IP, if you wish, though I admit to being uncertain about
your interest in things astronomical...

Right now there is a bright comet visible in both the morning and
evening sky, called Comet McNaught.  It's close to the sun, so only
visible shortly before and after sunrise and sunset, but bright enough
to be seen easily and even photographed with a handheld camera.
(Warning -- don't use binocs or a telescope near the sun when the sun is
up!  You could be blinded quickly.  But you knew that.)

I haven't seen it yet (back luck on clouds near my office the last
couple of evenings), but my eight-year-old daughter spotted it looking
out the window of our apartment last night, so it must be easy to find.

I get my news on such things from http://spaceweather.com/
which also includes a gallery of nice photos of McNaught.
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/070104_comet_mcnaught.html has slightly
better finder charts.

It's moving rapidly, so go look in the next day or two, before it
disappears!  I think it's still on its inbound track; the charts I've
seen so far don't show expected position or brightness outbound.

                --Rod




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