{"id":311,"date":"2007-01-08T22:56:03","date_gmt":"2007-01-08T22:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/01\/08\/c2006_p1_mcnaug\/"},"modified":"2021-11-28T00:11:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T00:11:01","slug":"c2006_p1_mcnaug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/01\/08\/c2006_p1_mcnaug\/","title":{"rendered":"C\/2006 P1 (McNaught) &#8211; JAN 08, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007010801_C2006P1A.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007010801_C2006P1B.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><b>Observation Notes<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A couple unsuccessful attempts to view this comet from home at sunrise and sunset the last couple days, lead me to drive up to Switzer Mesa after work today for a better horizon. Finding the comet was not easy in the sherbet orange twilight. I scanned the horizon for about ten minutes with my 10 x 50 binoculars before finally spotting it. Once spotted, it seemed very obvious. A frightfully cold wind, and the fact I didn&#8217;t bring my tripod mount for the binoculars meant I wasn&#8217;t getting the steadiest views propping them against the car. It was still a beautiful sight.<\/p>\n<p>The coma was soft-edged with a broad profile of luminosity. The tail fanned gracefully away from the blunt, parabolic nose, fading away what I estimated to be about a half degree from the coma. The tail seemed brightest along its eastern edge with a brighter core to the tail that favored the eastern half of the fan. I wasn&#8217;t equipped for a proper sketch, and time was very short, so I made a contour diagram and reproduced it digitally in Adobe Photoshop at home using the diagram as a reference.<\/p>\n<p>While I was observing it, my cell phone rang, and Bill Ferris was on the other end asking what I was up to. <i>&#8220;I&#8217;m out at Switzer Mesa, freezing my butt off, checking out this comet,&#8221;<\/i> I told him. He mentioned he was seeing the coma naked eye, and asked if I had tried it. I gave it a shot, but couldn&#8217;t pick it out. After hanging up, I got my stargazing glasses and gave it another try. With the glasses on, it showed up very subtly near the ragged line of trees along the horizon. I also grabbed a few shots with my camera and managed to pick out the comet in four of the images. The best one&#8211;which still isn&#8217;t great&#8211;is shown below. Hover your mouse over the image to show a contrast-enhanced version.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"javascript:myVoid()\" onmouseover=\"rollover('img2007010802')\" onmouseout=\"rollout('img2007010802')\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007010802_C2006P1A.jpg\" name=\"img2007010802\" alt=\"Step 1\" border=\"1\" color=\"FFFFFF\"><\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><br \/>\n<!--\nsetrollover(\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007010802_C2006P1B.jpg\");\n\/\/--><br \/>\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><!-- br--><\/p>\n<p><i>Move mouse over image to view contrast-enhanced version.<\/i><\/p>\n<table color=\"ffffff\" width=\"470\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding-left=\"4\" style=\"line-height: 150%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Subject<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b style=\"color: white\">C\/2006 P1 (McNaught)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Classification<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Comet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Position*<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Aquila:<br \/>\n01:00 UT &#8211; [RA: 19:24:17.9 \/ Dec: -09:06:53]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Size<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Tail: ~.5\u00c2\u00b0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Brightness<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">~ -1 vMag<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Date\/Time<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">January 8, 2007 &#8211; 6:00 PM MST<br \/>\n(January 9, 2007 &#8211; 01:00 UT)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Observing Loc.<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Switzer Mesa &#8211; Flagstaff, AZ<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Instrument<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">10 x 50 Binoculars<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Eyepieces\/Mag.<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">&#8211;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Conditions<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Clear, breezy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Seeing<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">&#8211;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Transparency<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">~ Mag 1.0 + NELM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>*Sources<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Starry Nights Pro Plus v. 5.8, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aerith.net\/comet\/catalog\/2006P1\/2006P1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aerith.net<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>C\/2006 P1 (McNaught) 20070108<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,45,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comet","category-sg-comet","category-sketch-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":297,"url":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2006\/10\/27\/comet_2006m4_sw_1\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":0},"title":"C\/2006 M4 (SWAN) &#8211; OCT 27, 2006, 03:20 UT","author":"jperez1690","date":"October 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"C\/2006 M4 (SWAN) 20061027","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comet&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comet","link":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/category\/comet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":312,"url":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/01\/11\/c2006_p1_mcnaug_1\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":1},"title":"C\/2006 P1 (McNaught) &#8211; JAN 11, 2007","author":"jperez1690","date":"January 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"C\/2006 P1 (McNaught) 20070111","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comet&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comet","link":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/category\/comet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":313,"url":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/01\/15\/c2006_p1_mcnaug_2\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":2},"title":"C\/2006 P1 (McNaught) &#8211; JAN 14, 2007 &#8211; Daytime Observation","author":"jperez1690","date":"January 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"C\/2006 P1 (McNaught) 20070114","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comet&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comet","link":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/category\/comet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":633,"url":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2020\/07\/07\/comet_c2020_f3_1\/","url_meta":{"origin":311,"position":3},"title":"Comet C\/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) &#8211; 7 July 2020","author":"jperez1690","date":"July 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"C\/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) - 7 July 2020, 3:44AM MST \/ 1044UT Click for larger version. 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