When the sun sets tonight, go outside and look west. You may see the brightest comet in thirty years hanging just above the horizon. It’s Comet McNaught.
Last night, “as the comet descended in the west, it turned reddish and seemed to glow very brightly–almost like a spark or ember. Awe inspiring!” reports Leslie Sheldon of Kanata, Ontario. “I can only imagine what it would look like in truly dark skies.”
“After receiving a Space Weather alert on my cell phone, I drove straight to the highest point in the area,” adds Sal Viviano of Washington, Michigan. Looking down at McNaught, he was rewarded by this “brief but beautiful” view:
In the days ahead, Comet McNaught will pass the sun (temporarily disappearing in the glare) and emerge in good position for southern hemisphere viewing later this month. Meanwhile, solar heating will continue to puff up the comet, causing it to brighten even more. It could become one of the brightest comets in centuries, visible even in daylit skies.
Yes! I saw it last night on the way home from work. I am familiar with he position of the planets so I was wondering what I was looking at. Thanks for the “illumination”.
Finally, a smarter comet.
Uh oh here comes Armageddon and mass cult suicides.
It’s that blasted global warming again!
(Comets are made up of SUV emissions.)
I think it is a little harder to see in the lower latitudes. It is pretty close to the sun. The best time to see it is right at sunset. I am in western New York state and photographed it on 10_Jan at 15:20 EST. It will be approximately 7 degrees above the sun. Easy to find with standard binocs. Naked-eye visible in a clear sky.
How did this one show up without any nuts putting on Nikes and drinking Kool-Aid?
Kidding aside, why didn’t this get more press before it happened?
6. I am in SW Colorado and see it right at sunset, its unmistakably bright, we are at about 8000 ft with a clear view of western horizon.
Perhaps the declaration of war on Syria and Iran that was declared last night was timed to coincide; it would meet up nicely with our President’s apparent messiah complex. In the hours thereafter we attacked the Iranian consulate in Kurdistan, a classic provocative move, almost a second declaration of war unto itself.
This is the story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6251167.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6252567.stm
Here’s where to look.
I spotted it last night in Michigan also. I thought for certain Hale-Bop was going to be the brightest comet event I saw in my lifetime. But wow, you can see this while its still light outside.
I«d miss this one if it weren’t for this post! I’ll be looking for it tomorrow! Thanks, DU!
I wish I knew about this yesterday evening. It was a cloudless sunset. Tonight it is overcast with rain. Well, maybe next time.