October 6, 2024
The universe does not repeat itself. Every sunrise is unique, every snowflake singular, and every birthday yours alone.
The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught
Birthday · October 6, 2024
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APOD published October 6, 2024. Credit: Robert H. McNaught. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, grew a spectacularly long and filamentary tail. The magnificent tail spread across the sky and was visible for several days to Southern Hemisphere observers just after sunset. The amazing ion tail showed its greatest extent on long-duration, wide-angle camera exposures. During some times, just the tail itself was visible just above the horizon for many northern observers as well. Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), estimated to have attained a peak brightness of magnitude -5 (minus five), was caught by the comet's discoverer in the featured image just after sunset in January 2007 from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Comet McNaught, the brightest comet in decades, then faded as it moved further into southern skies and away from the Sun and Earth. Over the next month, Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, a candidate for the Great Comet of 2024, should display its most spectacular tails visible from the Earth.
Image credit: Robert H. McNaught