The most recent photos from the southern hemisphere really made me sit up straight- McNaught bears a striking resemblence to comet West in 1976. Here is a (admittedly mediocre) photo for those who never saw West: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_West Note the similar structure in the tails of the two comets. They also share an exceedingly bright nucleus and coma. The wikipedia article also mentions the visibility of West in daylight- again like McNaught. I haven't seen an estimate yet of the apparent size of McNaught, but it looks like it could be approaching the size of West, which I made out at the time to be about 30-degrees when seen from a dark location. Let's hope that next time it's the northern hemisphere's turn- and a summertime great comet wouldn't put the universe out of balance, either (as long as we're hoping...). ____________________________________________________________________________________ The fish are biting. Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php
Be sure to check out this page on comet West: http://www.cometography.com/lcomets/1975v1.html Again, from the descriptions, you'll be amazed at the similarities between the two comets. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need a quick answer? Get one in minutes from people who know. Ask your question on www.Answers.yahoo.com
Comet West certainly was a beautiful one. I'm curious; wikipedia states that Comet West has an orbital period of ~558,000 years. So, why doesn't it have a periodic comet designation? i.e. XXX/P Clear skies, Dale.
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy- bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 2:19 PM To: Utah-Astro Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Comparing comets McNaught and West
The most recent photos from the southern hemisphere really made me sit up straight- McNaught bears a striking resemblence to comet West in 1976. Here is a (admittedly mediocre) photo for those who never saw West:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_West
Note the similar structure in the tails of the two comets. They also share an exceedingly bright nucleus and coma.
The wikipedia article also mentions the visibility of West in daylight- again like McNaught. I haven't seen an estimate yet of the apparent size of McNaught, but it looks like it could be approaching the size of West, which I made out at the time to be about 30-degrees when seen from a dark location.
Let's hope that next time it's the northern hemisphere's turn- and a summertime great comet wouldn't put the universe out of balance, either (as long as we're hoping...).
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http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-54344/Comets-Definition Half a million years is certainly longer than 200 years (the lower limit for a 'long-period' comet). Speculation: Perhaps the orbit must be known with precision, or it must return within a reasonable length of time with respect to human history? Going to wait for West to return, Dale? ;o) --- Dale Hooper <Dale.Hooper@sdl.usu.edu> wrote:
Comet West certainly was a beautiful one. I'm curious; wikipedia states that Comet West has an orbital period of ~558,000 years. So, why doesn't it have a periodic comet designation? i.e. XXX/P
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Ah, the answer is buried in the Brittanica article. Orbits that large have too many variables affecting them for the period to be known with certainty. Called 'very long period' comets, there is a chance that such a comet will be ejected from the solar system, so a periodic designation is really a crapshoot.
--- Dale Hooper <Dale.Hooper@sdl.usu.edu> wrote:
Comet West certainly was a beautiful one. I'm curious; wikipedia states that Comet West has an orbital period of ~558,000 years. So, why doesn't it have a periodic comet designation? i.e. XXX/P
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First of all - thank you very much for both references Chuck! They are very interesting. I think I'll be inflating clouds or something in .5 million years - but it would be an interesting return. The wikipedia article states that it broke into four pieces last time. Clear skies, Dale.
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy- bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 5:31 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Comparing comets McNaught and West
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-54344/Comets-Definition
Half a million years is certainly longer than 200 years (the lower limit for a 'long-period' comet). Speculation: Perhaps the orbit must be known with precision, or it must return within a reasonable length of time with respect to human history?
Going to wait for West to return, Dale? ;o)
--- Dale Hooper <Dale.Hooper@sdl.usu.edu> wrote:
Comet West certainly was a beautiful one. I'm curious; wikipedia states that Comet West has an orbital period of ~558,000 years. So, why doesn't it have a periodic comet designation? i.e. XXX/P
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Chuck Hards -
Dale Hooper