If you have been studying page 26 of our January magazine you will know all about the new bright Comet McNaught which has been visible in evening skies over the past week.

 

The Comet has turned out to be even brighter than was predicted in our magazine where it was estimated it would reach magnitude +2 or +3 making it one of the brightest comets in years. However, the comet should become about 100 times brighter than this and yesterday David Moore, David Grennan and Robert Lord saw it in daylight from the Astronomy Ireland Shop in Dublin using a Celestron 80ED refractor.

 

Previously, David Moore became the first person in Ireland (and the U.K. we believe) to spot the comet when he saw it on the evening of Jan. 1st. He also saw it for the first time with the naked eye on Jan. 5th. All from Dublin as city lights do not matter since the comet has to be viewed in strong twilight anyway so a dark sky is not important.

 

Comet McNaught is now a spectacular object in the early evening twilight with one telephone caller (a non-astronomer) calling to ask what that peculiar looking object is in the West earlier this week. The Comet is currently (Jan. 11) about magnitude -2 (about as bright as Jupiter) and could become brighter than Venus (magnitude -4).

 

The reason for its brightness is that the comet is passing very close to the Sun. It will be just 25 million km from the Sun on Friday (Jan. 12). That's 6 times closer than Earth and only half of Mercury's distance. So the comet is being roasted. It may disintegrate. Other comets have. This would increase its brightness further.

 

The only problem is how close the comet is to the Sun, about 10 degrees today Jan. 11 and dropping to just 6 degrees at the weekend. So you need to view the comet as the Sun sets, and not much later. Sunset is around 4:30pm. You can also see the comet in the morning sky (sunrise around 8:30pm). In both cases look just to the upper left of the Sun. If you do attempt to see the comet in daylight, with the Sun above the horizon, be extremely careful not to look at the Sun you will damage your eyesight, especially with binoculars and telescopes.