Brightest Comet Ever Observed by SOHO (Forwarded)

wrote:
Father Haskell wrote:
Andrew Yee wrote:
ESA News
http://www.esa.int

16 Jan 2007

Brightest Comet Ever Observed by SOHO

Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) has become the brightest comet that has been
observed by the SOHO instruments since the start of routine operations in
early 1996. In its own right, McNaught is the brightest comet observed in
the last 40 years.

The exact peak apparent magnitude of the comet is not yet determined, but
it is currently estimated at -5.5 (see also the related link to the
International Comet Quarterly's (ICQ) list of brightest comets). This
makes it several magnitudes brighter than SOHO's previously observed
brightest comet: C/2002 V1 (NEAT) at about -0.5 magnitude.

Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) is a single-apparition comet on an hyperbolic
orbit, inclined at ~78 deg to the ecliptic. It was discovered by Rob
McNaught on 7 August 2006, when the comet was still at ~3 AU from the Sun,
or nearly 450 million km. Over the past 5 months comet McNaught has been
steadily closing in on the Sun, eventually passing it at 0.17 AU as it
reached perihelion on 12 January 2007.

Around perihelion, the comet's proximity to the Sun prevented it from
being observable from the ground. SOHO, however, was able to observe the
comet during this period. The sequence on the right shows comet C/2006 P1
as it passes the field of view of the LASCO C3 instrument between 12 and
16 January 2007. LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph
Experiment) is a coronograph dedicated to observing the Sun's corona and
uses an occulting disk to block out direct sunlight, covering the central
~2 deg of the nearly 16 deg wide view.

Also visible in the sequence is Mercury, which is moving slowly from right
to left, in the central left part of this view. As the LASCO detector is
built to study the much fainter solar corona, the comet appears saturated,
with the characteristic horizontal spokes extending from the comet's
nucleus.

Having passed its perihelion, comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) is moving away
again from the Sun and will become increasingly better visible for ground
observers, particularly in the southern hemisphere as its orbit now takes
it to higher southern declinations. With the increasing distance to the
Sun, however, the comets brightness will decline with time.

For further information please contact: SciTech.editorial @ esa.int

IMAGES AND VIDEOS

* Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught)
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/obj...objectid=40532

RELATED LINKS

* ICQ list of brightest comets
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/icq/brightest.html
* More on Comet C/2006 P1 at SOHO SOC
http://soho.esac.esa.int/hotshots/2007_01_08/
* Bright Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT)
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/obj...objectid=32521

Neat.

Why has no one searched for exocomets? Seems like they'd be
MUCH easier to image than comparatively dustmote-like exoplanets.


http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ts_010816.html

Bill

Thanks. I wonder if McNaught would be visible to Cassini or any other
active space probes?