Comet McNaught

Manukau heads obs · Sat 20/01/2007 09:21

good stuff spwill !!
michael, it was not totaly overcast at all.
it was viewable again from here, and in fact my brother who lives near papakura , not far from you, could see it last nigth (9:30pm)
but there was some passing altocumulus cloud...and so you did have to wait for gaps in the cloud..maybe you did not wait long enough (and the cloud was moving slowly)

kaimaikid · Unread post by **kaimaikid** » Sat 20/01/2007 10:14

will it be visible again tonight and is it setting earlier or later each day?

tgsnoopy · Unread post by **tgsnoopy** » Sat 20/01/2007 10:28

Gutted, after forgetting on Thursday night, in an attempt to get a decent view, we went up the top of the Kaimais. Unfortunately cloud cover conventiently moved perfectly obscuring all but a little of the tail.

I got back down and filled up with gas, only to be told of the excellent views from most of Tauranga from several people

Maybe tonight? Fingers crossed.

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Sat 20/01/2007 10:37

It will probably move furthur south into the circumpolar region but it will fade as it moves from the sun

kaimaikid wrote:will it be visible again tonight and is it setting earlier or later each day?

Paul Mallinson · Unread post by **Paul Mallinson** » Sat 20/01/2007 10:58

Some pictures taken from Greytown at around 10pm to 10:30pm. One through an 8inch Celestron telescope and the other moderately zoomed on a Nikon Coolpix digital camera.

Paul

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Sat 20/01/2007 13:37

Great looking photos.

Pity Auckland is stuck in a cloudy pattern for now.

kaimaikid · Unread post by **kaimaikid** » Mon 22/01/2007 05:08

Apart from cloudy skies, how many more nights will the comet be visible to the naked eye?

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Mon 22/01/2007 08:31

Comet still looked bright last night and it shared the sw sky with the moon for a short while. Half of Auckland up Mt Eden watching it last night.

Brassnz · Unread post by **Brassnz** » Mon 22/01/2007 09:18

Some great views of the comet to be had last night from Laingholm, around 10pm or so...

ricky · Unread post by **ricky** » Mon 22/01/2007 12:53

Finally got a great view last night from a Mt Roskill roof

gllitz · Unread post by **gllitz** » Mon 22/01/2007 14:27

(/begin vent)
This weather is REALLY beginning to hack me off....EVERY night for the past 6 nights has been clouded over here in CHCH...GRRRR!!!

....and NOT looking that great for TONIGHT either!!
(/end vent)

...ah, much better now....

Storm Struck · Unread post by **Storm Struck** » Mon 22/01/2007 17:13

Note... when there is a NW arch there is always a clearing at the end of which can be seen and also most of the time these arch's tend to break up just near sunset as has most of the cloud the last few nights.
Just how much will it clear is the question

i agree with you though Glitz.
Cheers
Jason.

GraemeWi · Unread post by **GraemeWi** » Mon 22/01/2007 17:25

Sould be able o be seen in the east before dawn... or so I have heard on the radio. I'll be having a look early tomrrow as well if I rememebr to wake up early enough!

G

Janos · Unread post by **Janos** » Mon 22/01/2007 20:14

Yep cloud cloud and more cloud.
No viewing tonight thats a certainty.

kaimaikid · Unread post by **kaimaikid** » Mon 22/01/2007 20:23

found this great NZ link...

New Zealand comet data

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gllitz · Unread post by **gllitz** » Mon 22/01/2007 22:56

WOOOT!! GREAT view of the comet just now....tail showing nicely!!

Off to the SW from CHCH

Janos · Unread post by **Janos** » Mon 22/01/2007 23:03

Incredibly the skies cleared and we had an awsome view of the comet tonight.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Tue 23/01/2007 07:59

From last night.

gllitz · Unread post by **gllitz** » Tue 23/01/2007 08:21

WOW! Best picture I have seen of the comet yet!! "'O' for Owesome", as it were....

Janos · Unread post by **Janos** » Tue 23/01/2007 17:25

What time was your wonderful photo taken. It seems quite low on the horizon compared to down here so I assume it was quite late at night.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Tue 23/01/2007 18:01

Be about 11pm maybe a little after.

Fujita Phil · Unread post by **Fujita Phil** » Wed 24/01/2007 20:44

I was in Sydney in the weekend and got a great view of it just driving south of the city. I was surprised how bright it was over the suburbs. Very cool

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Wed 24/01/2007 20:55

What kind of camera do you have to have.Mine gets blackness,can see the stars of Grus,Pavo etc easilly let alone the comet

RODALCO · Unread post by **RODALCO** » Wed 24/01/2007 22:32

Just come back from Piha in the hope of clear skies.
Forget it, low hanging clouds, with the occasional gap, nowhere near where the comet was supposed to be.
The crescent moon was occasionally visible in the North West.

Stormchaser What an awsome photo of the comet !

dija · Unread post by **dija** » Wed 24/01/2007 23:29

here at Turakina (Wanganui) the skies havent been clear enough at all since this comet made its appearance

ohh well, i,ll wait for its return... hmm when is that??

Letâ€™s look at the speed of this comet at perihelion, so at q = 0.17 AU = 2.5432E12 cm. If we take the second value for 1/a, above, then the semimajor axis a = 16,950 AU, which is 2.536E17 cm. What is the eccentricityf? q = a(1-e), so e = (1-q/a). Plugging the numbers in we have eccentricity e = 0.999989971 . So at perihelion, the distance at which the comet is now, roughly, v = 1.085E7 cm/sec or 108 km/sec. Itâ€™s cruising! No wonder we have such a short time to see it.
so that P = 6.95E13 sec = 2.2 million years. I suggest not to wait up for this cometâ€™s returnâ€¦..!