Whatever first made mankind stare up at the heavens in awe is lost in the midsts of time. Perhaps it was the great fiery ball that gives heat and light during the day. Yes. That probably seemed fairly significant. Perhaps it was the ever changing face of the moon, gently coasting across the sky night by night. That was probably quite noticeable too.
I think, however, that it was probably the truly exceptional things that really involved mankind in a study of the sky. The things that don’t appear every day but dance briefly across the firmament, all the more obvious by being transient and unusual. Comets, in short, were probably the visitors that filled ancient man with the greatest awe.
Tonight I rounded up my posse and dragged them to the beach front to see Comet McNaught, or “C/2006 P1″ as the scientists know it. The wait was windy and cold, and included being accosted by a card carrying schizophrenic armed with incomprehensible jokes. The reward, however, was unspeakably beautiful.
Visible low in the Western sky and being very bright, the comet seems to float on top of the residual light of the sun. Its tail is truly enormous, stretching upwards from the horizon in a most impressive plume. This is a phenomenon that you won’t be forgetting in a hurry so I would strongly encourage you to go out and see it.
First you will need to figure out where and when the sun sets. The first part should not be a problem and, for the second, simply go here. Wait until about 20 minutes after sunset, taking great care to avoid eye contact while your schizophrenic tells you about Jesus clapping his hands, and you should see the head of the comet appear to the left of where the sun went down, just above the dusk light. For me, it was about 1 thumb above the horizon when I held my hand out at arm’s length.
The only other object visible in the sky during the start of my observations was the planet Venus, which should be very obvious. It will appear to the right of where the sun set, more or less the same distance from that point as the comet will be to the left. We had about 20 minutes of comet watching but you could get more if the sky is completely clear.
You should do this as soon as possible because the McNaught is currently moving towards the sun. This means that it will appear lower in the sky each night and be visible for less time. Furthermore, the lower it appears in the sky, the greater the distance its reflected light has to travel through the atmosphere of Earth, meaning that it will be dimmer.
Because it appears so low in the sky after sunset, it was extremely difficult to photograph the comet, even using my high-tech gear consisting of a Sony-Ericsson W800i cell phone and a 2000 vintage, 1.3 Megapixel camera. At the best of times, these suck utterly for anything in the night sky. A friend had his Sony-Ericsson K750i with him and, between the two of us, we managed to produce a few noisy pictures of a white smudge. Despite my best intentions, I’m therefore unable to illustrate this post with anything meaningful.
Unlike Halley in 1986, Comet McNaught will not be back. It is making a once-off dash at the sun and scientists tell us that it is likely to break up in the process. Even if it makes it, it will thereafter shoot out of the solar system on a long journey through deep space. This might be contributing to its spectacular display, but that is a matter for theorists. What I am sure of is that this is one heck of a show.
