Comet McNaught closest to Earth next week
June 11th, 2010 - 1:51 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, June 11 (IANS) If you look towards the northeastern sky before sunrise June 15, the recently discovered comet McNaught will be closest to Earth and visible to the naked eye.
The comet will appear as a dim and diffuse circular patch of light gliding through the constellation of Perseus in the northern sky.
It has been brightening rapidly as it approaches Earth for a 100-million-mile close encounter.
“Comet McNaught has a vivid green head and a long wispy tail that looks great through small telescopes. By the end of the month it could be visible to the naked eye perhaps as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper,” said N.S. Raghunandan Kumar, general secretary, Planetary Society, India.
The Big Dipper is an alignment of seven stars known in ancient Indian astronomy as “Sapta Rishi” or “The Seven Great Sages”.
According to scientists, this is the comet’s first visit to the inner solar system, so predictions of future brightness are necessarily uncertain.
Comet McNaught was discovered in September 2009 by Robert McNaught at Australia’s Siding Spring Observatory while conducting a search for potentially dangerous near-Earth objects.
- Treat for sky gazers, comet closest to Earth Tuesday - Jun 14, 2010
- Newly discovered comet dazzles skywatchers with increasing brightness - Jun 10, 2010
- One of universe's biggest, brightest comets to paint skies green this week - Jun 16, 2010
- Meteor shower to sparkle sky Thursday - Aug 11, 2010
- Astronomers measure 'biggest' comet - Apr 14, 2010
- Comet Hartley 2 Will Be Visible From The Northern Horizon - Oct 20, 2010
- Delhi's overcast sky may obscure meteor shower - Aug 12, 2010
- 'Asteroid' found 100 years ago could be an extinct comet - Dec 24, 2010
- Watch out for Geminid meteor shower Wednesday - Dec 12, 2011
- Comet Hartley 2 Set To Pass Close By Earth - Oct 20, 2010
- Earth to have a close encounter with Comet Hartley 2 today - Oct 20, 2010
- Meteor Shower Was At Its Peak Last Night - Oct 22, 2010
- Earth set to have a close encounter with Comet Hartley 2 - Oct 04, 2010
- Watch out for Lulin comet closest to earth Tuesday - Feb 23, 2009
- Elusive green comet Hartley 2 will be visible today - Oct 20, 2010
Tags: big dipper, circular patch, close encounter, comet mcnaught, constellation, earth objects, encounter comet, general secretary, indian astronomy, inner solar system, naked eye, northeastern sky, northern sky, perseus, planetary society, rishi, robert mcnaught, sages, seven stars, siding spring observatory