Observe Comet McNaught during the dark of the Moon.

Watch a naked-eye comet, C/2009 R1 (Comet McNaught) glide through Perseus in mid-June!

Comet McNaught's brightness should peak above naked-eye visibility from a dark site. It also will sport a lengthy tail that points north.

Northern Hemisphere observers have waited a long time to see a naked-eye comet with a distinct tail. With any luck, the wait will end this month. For Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught), observers can look for it with unaided eyes, follow up with a view through binoculars, and finish with a close-up observation through a telescope.
Through even a medium-sized scope, the comet's tail should look like a celestial sword angling upward into the northern sky.

Australian astronomer Robert H. McNaught discovered this comet September 9, 2009. He was using the 19.7-inch (0.5 meter) Uppsala Schmidt Telescope as part of the Siding Spring Observatory Survey, which searches for near-Earth objects. At the time of discovery, Comet McNaught glowed faintly with a light 25,000 times fainter than the human eye can detect.

The comet will be a treat for both viewing and photography after
midnight. If predictions hold, Comet McNaught should glow around 5th magnitude as it floats across the sparkling stars of the constellation Perseus the Hero in mid-June.
(5th magnitude means that the comet's light output will be about 4 times as bright as the faintest stars the eye can perceive from a dark site.)

Two of Perseus' deep-sky objects — open star cluster M34 and the Alpha Persei Association — will frame this solar system interloper nicely. The prize shot comes when the comet's tail sweeps a veil of solar system dust in front of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891.

The weekend of Friday, June 11, through Sunday, June 13, offers the darkest sky. New Moon occurs at 7:15 a.m. EDT on the 12th. Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Richard Talcott said, "A comet this bright isn't something that happens all the time, so go
have a look. It's easy to find because of all the bright stars around it."

Comet McNaught will move northward during June. On the 21st, it passes less than 2° above the star Capella in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. Capella is a yellow star that ranks as the night sky's sixth-brightest luminary.

The 21st also marks the morning of the June solstice, the start of summer north of the equator. Unfortunately, observers living far north can't benefit from McNaught's higher position because of twilight that lasts all night and because of potential interference from noctilucent clouds, which glow high in our atmosphere long after the Sun has set.

Get Celestial !!!!

Cool.

Now I have to find Perseus...

For a second there I thought it said Comet McNaughty.


Cool info

I get to see a comet for my birthday. Yippie Skippie.

What a nice birthday gift...

Happy Birthday

Thank you, now if only I can stay awake that late to catch it. LOL

I don't think that it will be dark enough where I am at to view it.. but I shall try!

I have to drive up the mountain to see any of this activity...and it's been cold, stormy and cloudy here. Hope it clears up tonight.

ah, you gotta stay awake, it's your birthday

If it comes on monday. I get to see it on my birthday

Recently Comet McNaught has unexpectedly brightened so that it is visible to the naked eye from dark skies through June 2010, Because this is Comet McNaught's first orbit close to the Sun from the Oort comet cloud, the predictions are even more difficult than usual. Stargazers will need to get up before dawn to see how bright Comet McNaught becomes.

Stargazers who want to observe Comet McNaught should get up an hour or two before dawn, go to a dark sky location, and look in the northeast sky in the direction of the constellation Perseus. Stargazers unfamiliar with the constellation Perseus should look low in the northeastern sky a little before dawn during the latter part of June 2010.

If Comet McNaught continues to brighten, it will be well worth rising early.

McNaught in Australia in 2007

ladylid..wanna go up in the mtns and watch mcnaughty with me tonite? We can stay up until it shows up

hahaha...I have my own mountains here

mine are taller than yours so we could get a closer view from mine

No their not!!

Cool!

more than awesome in many ways! but this weekend it is going to rain all and every night....

sweetestgirl, it'll be there all month, not just his weekend. This weekend is just the darkest moon...so you'll still get to see it.

I'm pulling an all nighter so I can go see the comet. The storms have rolled out, the sky is clear..it's a beautiful night.
I'm gonna drive up to Squaw peak, it's a 10 minute drive from my house, way above the valley. Wish I had a real nice camera..I'm soooo excited to see this.

I really dig being able to 'see' what's going on in the cosmos!!!

No mountains here in Michigan to speak of, to get away from the city lights. But I bet if I drive out to 'the lake' (Lake Michigan) it's dark enough.