February 12, 2007
In the grand ledger of cosmic time, a human life is breathtakingly brief. But brevity is not insignificance.
Comet McNaught Over New Zealand
Birthday · February 12, 2007
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APOD published February 12, 2007. Credit: Minoru Yoneto. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Comet McNaught is perhaps the most photogenic comet of our time. After making quite a show in the northern hemisphere in mid January, the comet moved south and developed a long and unusual dust tail that dazzled southern hemisphere observers starting in late January. Comet McNaught was imaged two weeks ago between Mount Remarkable and Cecil Peak in this spectacular image taken from Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand. The bright comet dominates the right part of the above image, while the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy dominates the left. Careful inspection of the image will reveal a meteor streak just to the left of the comet. Comet McNaught continues to move out from the Sun and dim, but should remain visible in southern skies with binoculars through the end of this month.
Image credit: Minoru Yoneto