Comet McNaught was one such recent celestial headliner, and for the best part of the show in January, I was fortunate to be in New Zealand. While co-directing a study abroad program of field geology and marine biology courses for the University of Delaware, I was able to observe this comet at its brightest in the western twilight and even take several snapshots. Although there were many highlights among the adventures and excursions of our group of 29, sharing the view, the story of discovery and significance of the apparition with students and locals certainly represent a most memorable part of the trip.

Unlike the last two bright comets, the August 7th discovery by Robert H. McNaught of Siding Spring Observatory in Coonabarabran, Australia, was decidedly not accidental. On his website, McNaught describes his discovery was “routine” for their Catalina Sky Survey project. In fact, McNaught and his colleagues in Arizona account for over half of the near-Earth asteroid discoveries over the past year. In typically modest Aussie fashion, McNaught makes no mention of the over 400 asteroids and two dozen of comets credited to him. Little wonder then, asteroid 3137 was named in his honor.

For latter half of January, Comet McNaught was easily visible in the evening twilight. I looked for it half a dozen times (even in daylight, but with no luck), catching good views and photos on four occasions. Over the week, it noticeably drew away from the Sun and moved to the south along the horizon, and the comet’s tail grew to over 20 degrees high, even as seen from less than dark surroundings. Comet McNaught remained visible two hours after sunset, and after the coma set, the tail gradually followed but remained observable for some time. Wisps and streamers were faintly visible in the gigantic tail (they are barely visible in these photos), and the luminous arc gave the whole scene—our inner solar system, with Venus and Mercury just to the right—a very 3-D impression.

Many better photos of the comet have been uploaded to the web, and the extensive coverage (before and after perihelion) provided by APOD is a great place to start. Despite its brief appearance, Comet McNaught was definitely the most impressive and brightest comet I have been fortunate enough to see. In 1976, I missed Comet West entirely, though that wasn’t bad luck, being out of astro-loop in college and well before the invention of the Internet.

No complaints about our recent comet fortunes: in the past decade or so, star gazers have been enchanted by a trio of bright comets. No one who saw it will forget Hyakutake’s aqua tail stretched across the sky, nor the bright and contrasting dust and ion tails of Hale-Bopp. And while we cannot always predict where we’ll be or whether the clouds will cooperate, here’s hoping for another—the 4th comet of a lifetime—before another dozen orbits of the Sun.

Moondark is written by Doug Miller, published at the Moondark web site, and printed in the Delmarva Star Gazers' Star Gazer News. This document was last revised on 25 February 2007. Text and images copyright © 2007 by Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.