Comet McNaught has been in our field of view for a couple of weeks now and it has already taken a place in the brightest comets that have ever been sighted.
The comet was discovered by Robert McNaught last August and is one of the greatest and the brightest comets in recent times. The comet turned into a bright object on January 12, when it was at a distance of 15.9 million miles from the sun.
Now the comet’s show is almost over for the Northern Hemisphere residents but is still visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
The comet reached its peak brightness on January 14 when it was shining at a magnitude of -5.1. So bright that it could be seen with naked eyes once the sun was below the horizon.
Comets that are visible in day light are rarely seen and Comet McNaught is among them. Going down the History books here is the list of some other comets that were similar to Comet McNaught.
1) Comet West, 1976:
This comet was discovered by astronomer, Richard West in November 1975. It developed into a bright object when sighted in March 1976. It was seen with naked eye for ten minutes when it was at a distance of 18.3 million miles from the sun. This was the last daylight comet sighting till we found Comet McNaught on the horizon.
2) Comet Ikeya-Seki, 1965:
This was the brightest comet of the 20th century and was first sighted by Japanese Astronomers. The comet could be seen by blocking the sun with ones hand. It was also described as appearing ten times brighter than the Full Moon and had a magnitude of -15.
3) Comet Skjellerup-Maristany, 1927:
The comet was bright but the sightings were hampered with the poorest observing circumstances possible. When the comet was at a distance of 16.7 Million miles from the sun it could be seen in daylight at a 5-degree angle and having a magnitude of -6.
4) Great January comet of 1910:
This magnificent comet was spotted by workmen at the Transvaal Premier Diamond Mine in South Africa. The observatory Director Robert Innes viewed it as a snowy-white object that was brighter than Venus and was several degrees from the sun.
5) Great September comet of 1882:
This comet is perhaps the brightest comet that has ever been seen. This was first spotted by a group of Italian Sailors in the Southern Hemisphere. This came very close to the sun and was easily visible in daylight when it was just 264,000 miles from the sun and had a magnitude between -15 to -20 and was described as a blazing star near the sun.
6) Great comet of 1843:
This comet passed the sun at a distance of only 126,000 miles and was widely observed in full daylight. Since the comet was at an angle of 1-degree to the sun it was observed as an elongated white cloud.
7) Great comet of 1744:
This comet was first sighted in 1743 as a dim object in the sky. Eventually the comet brightened when it came closer to the sun and finally was described as a 1st magnitude comet with a 7-degree tail.
Comet McNaught is now viewable only in the Southern Hemisphere and should be sighted in the west as the darkness falls. It should disappear from our view by the end of January or in early February. The sighting can be compared to some of the comets that have been mentioned above but it should remain in the History Books as the first comet of the 21st century that was viewed with naked eyes and that too in daylight...!
Via: msnbc
