Great comet C/2006 P1 Mc Naught at 08.00 UT on Jan 19th 2007.
The comet rose above the low eastern horizon along with the rosy glow of the
approaching Sun. It was easily visible to the naked eye complete with tail hanging
above a distant telegraph post. This sketch shows the view in 10X50mm binoculars
with a 1 degree long white dust tail pointing at a shallow angle to the NE with the
‘shadow of the nucleus’ feature splitting the dust tail in two. I only had it in
view for 5 min’s before clouds rolled in but what a view it was!
Mag: -1.7 Dia: 3′ D.C: 9 and only 13 degrees from the sun.
Pencil and paper sketch inverted in photoelements.
Thanks
Martin Mc Kenna
N. Ireland
Great sketch Martin!
Elusive is right! I was never able to see Mc Naught thanks to clouds on the western horizon. I’m glad you were able to observe it and make this remarkable sketch.
Jason Aldridge
North Port, FL USA
Very nice sketch!
Unfortunately, I completely missed out on the Comet, the weather was simply not playing along.
At least I can feed on the impressions that other people were able to capture, like you in your drawing.
Sebastian
Martin,
Excellent comet rendering.
I also was unable to catch even a glimpse at this celestial visitor. Nice capture.
Frank
Thanks very much for the feedback everyone. It was a wonderful comet and I was very fortunate to have seen it during the terrible cloudy weather which plaged us over the the New Year. Waiting for the next bright comet now!