Treat for sky gazers, comet closest to Earth Tuesday
By IANSMonday, June 14, 2010
NEW DELHI - Sky gazers in the capital are in for a celestial treat Tuesday as the recently discovered comet McNaught will be closest to Earth and visible to the naked eye.
Look towards the northeastern sky before sunrise Tuesday, the comet will appear as a dim and diffused circular patch of light gliding through the constellation of Perseus.
“Comet McNaught has a vivid green head and a long wispy tail that looks great through small telescopes. By the end of the month it could be visible to the naked eye perhaps as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper,” said N.S. Raghunandan Kumar, general secretary, Planetary Society, India.
The Big Dipper is an alignment of seven stars known in ancient Indian astronomy as “Sapta Rishi” or “The Seven Great Sages”.
It has been brightening rapidly as it approaches Earth for a 100-million-mile close encounter.
According to scientists, this is the comet’s first visit to the inner solar system, so predictions of future brightness are uncertain.
Comet McNaught was discovered in September 2009 by Robert McNaught at Australia’s Siding Spring Observatory while conducting a search for potentially dangerous near-Earth objects.
