Comet McNaught could be brightest in recorded history
Last Updated: Friday, January 12, 2007 | 9:14 AM ET
The Associated Press
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Comet McNaught didn't generate much initial buzz when it was discovered last year, but as it has got closer to the sun, it has brightened and the word has spread as stargazers get a glimpse of the brightest comet seen in decades.
Comets are collections of ice, gas and dust that orbit the sun and usually have two tails, one made of dust and the other of ionizing gases.
The Comet McNaught settles over the skies of Anchorage, Alaska
(Bob Hallinen/Anchorage Daily News/Associated Press)
NASA astronomer Tony Phillips says Comet McNaught is the brightest comet visible from Earth in 30 years. It is six times brighter than Hale-Bopp in 1997, and 100 times brighter than Halley's Comet when it appeared in 1986, Phillips said Thursday.
Comet McNaught, discovered last year by Australian astronomer R.H. McNaught, is expected to remain visible throughout the Northern Hemisphere through Friday, when it will come to within 26 million kilometres of the sun and be obscured by the sun's glare. After that, it will eventually emerge for people in the Southern Hemisphere to enjoy.
"It will remain a spectacular comet for weeks, perhaps months, in the Southern Hemisphere," NASA's Phillips said. "It could emerge as the brightest comet in recorded history."
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