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Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand Comet and Meteor Section

COMET 2006 P1 (McNaught)

Comet McNaught could be a 'wow' comet! Latest reports state that it can be visually seen during the daytime with optical aid not far from the Sun (don't try this though as permament blindness could result!!!). C/2006 P1 should start to sneak above NZ's SW horizon from about the 17th January onwards - but try spotting it earlier using the ephemerides below... The vague chart below shows the path of the comet as it heads towards a circumpolar orbit (doesn't set from NZ skies). Robert McNaught (professional astronomer) discovered it at magnitude 17 on August 7 2006 from Siding Springs, NSW, Australia. Below are photos and daily positions...

The following orbital elements were extracted from GUIDE 8.0 software -

Perihelion distance 0.1707470 AU
Orbital elements:
Eccentricity 1.0000200
Inclination of orbit 77.8317000 degrees
Argument of perihelion 155.9740000 degrees
Long. ascending node 267.4140000 degrees
Date of perihelion JD 2454113.29900 (12 Jan 2007 19:10:33)

Images coming when it can be imaged! Daily ephemerides are lower down.

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW... DETAILS:  
 

Date (UT):

Scope:

Camera:

Exposures and ISO:

NOTES:

 
     

C/2006 P1 - One day positions...

Personalized ephemerides for this (and other) objects may be generated using the Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service.

McNaught (C/2006 P1)
Date RA declination mag Elong Alt Azim
---- -- ----------- --- ----- ------ ------
10 Jan 2007 21:30:51 19h34m10.47s -10 37' 46.0" 2.9 11.6 -16.60 241.05 Aql
11 Jan 2007 21:30:51 19h42m13.65s -12 25' 22.3" 2.4 9.9 -14.61 240.50 Sgr
12 Jan 2007 21:30:51 19h50m27.96s -14 53' 03.4" 2.0 7.9 -12.12 239.51 Sgr
13 Jan 2007 21:30:51 19h58m28.72s -17 58' 23.7" 2.0 6.0 -9.22 238.04 Sgr
14 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h05m52.26s -21 27' 39.3" 2.2 5.5 -6.15 236.17 Sgr
15 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h12m27.08s -25 02' 08.6" 2.6 7.1 -3.17 234.11 Cap
16 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h18m14.40s -28 27' 04.3" 3.1 9.7 -0.44 232.02 Sgr
17 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h23m21.73s -31 34' 38.9" 3.6 12.5 1.97 230.01 Sgr
18 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h27m57.54s -34 22' 27.3" 4.1 15.1 4.06 228.14 Sgr
19 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h32m09.03s -36 51' 00.4" 4.5 17.6 5.85 226.42 Mic
20 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h36m01.81s -39 02' 04.5" 5.0 19.8 7.38 224.86 Mic
21 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h39m40.05s -40 57' 47.8" 5.4 21.8 8.70 223.43 Mic
22 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h43m06.83s -42 40' 15.8" 5.8 23.6 9.83 222.14 Mic
23 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h46m24.46s -44 11' 21.6" 6.2 25.3 10.81 220.95 Mic
24 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h49m34.65s -45 32' 43.6" 6.5 26.8 11.66 219.87 Ind
25 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h52m38.71s -46 45' 45.1" 6.8 28.1 12.41 218.87 Ind
26 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h55m37.67s -47 51' 36.7" 7.1 29.4 13.06 217.95 Ind
27 Jan 2007 21:30:51 20h58m32.30s -48 51' 17.8" 7.4 30.6 13.63 217.09 Ind
28 Jan 2007 21:30:51 21h01m23.24s -49 45' 38.4" 7.6 31.7 14.13 216.30 Ind
29 Jan 2007 21:30:51 21h04m10.99s -50 35' 20.6" 7.9 32.8 14.58 215.56 Ind
30 Jan 2007 21:30:51 21h06m55.95s -51 21' 00.3" 8.1 33.8 14.98 214.86 Ind
31 Jan 2007 21:30:51 21h09m38.47s -52 03' 07.6" 8.3 34.7 15.33 214.20 Ind

1 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h12m18.81s -52 42' 08.6" 8.5 35.6 15.65 213.58 Ind
2 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h14m57.23s -53 18' 25.4" 8.7 36.5 15.94 212.99 Ind
3 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h17m33.91s -53 52' 17.3" 8.9 37.3 16.19 212.43 Ind
4 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h20m09.04s -54 24' 00.7" 9.1 38.1 16.42 211.89 Ind
5 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h22m42.75s -54 53' 50.1" 9.3 38.9 16.63 211.38 Ind
6 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h25m15.19s -55 21' 58.1" 9.5 39.7 16.82 210.88 Ind
7 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h27m46.45s -55 48' 35.6" 9.6 40.4 17.00 210.41 Ind
8 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h30m16.65s -56 13' 52.4" 9.8 41.1 17.16 209.95 Ind
9 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h32m45.87s -56 37' 57.0" 9.9 41.9 17.30 209.50 Ind
10 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h35m14.20s -57 00' 57.0" 10.1 42.6 17.44 209.07 Ind
11 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h37m41.71s -57 22' 59.2" 10.2 43.3 17.56 208.65 Ind
12 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h40m08.46s -57 44' 09.5" 10.4 43.9 17.67 208.24 Ind
13 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h42m34.51s -58 04' 33.4" 10.5 44.6 17.78 207.85 Ind
14 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h44m59.93s -58 24' 15.8" 10.6 45.3 17.88 207.46 Ind
15 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h47m24.76s -58 43' 20.9" 10.7 45.9 17.98 207.07 Ind
16 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h49m49.05s -59 01' 52.7" 10.8 46.6 18.07 206.70 Ind
17 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h52m12.84s -59 19' 54.8" 11.0 47.3 18.15 206.33 Ind
18 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h54m36.17s -59 37' 30.4" 11.1 47.9 18.23 205.97 Ind
19 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h56m59.09s -59 54' 42.5" 11.2 48.6 18.31 205.61 Ind
20 Feb 2007 21:30:51 21h59m21.62s -60 11' 33.6" 11.3 49.2 18.39 205.26 Ind
21 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h01m43.80s -60 28' 06.3" 11.4 49.9 18.46 204.91 Ind
22 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h04m05.68s -60 44' 22.6" 11.5 50.5 18.54 204.57 Ind
23 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h06m27.28s -61 00' 24.7" 11.6 51.2 18.61 204.23 Ind
24 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h08m48.65s -61 16' 14.3" 11.7 51.8 18.68 203.90 Tuc
25 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h11m09.83s -61 31' 53.0" 11.8 52.5 18.75 203.56 Tuc
26 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h13m30.86s -61 47' 22.6" 11.9 53.1 18.82 203.24 Tuc
27 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h15m51.78s -62 02' 44.3" 11.9 53.8 18.90 202.91 Tuc
28 Feb 2007 21:30:51 22h18m12.64s -62 17' 59.5" 12.0 54.4 18.97 202.58 Tuc

1 Mar 2007 21:30:51 22h20m33.48s -62 33' 09.4" 12.1 55.1 19.04 202.26 Tuc