Comet over Scotland

[youngskywalker]

Any crews see the spectacular comet over North of Scotland this evening about 1630-1700ish? Seen heading westerly, very bright light with huge trail following. Never seen anything like it before...

[ranger703]

It was an Iridium satellite flare,one also seen west of Tain last night.Tonights centre was 4km east of Lossie and very vivid as last nights was.

Details available at heavens-above.com.

[tribo]

Picture at this link:
http://www.aftenposten.no/viten/article1594649.ece
The comet discovered 7th August 2006 by the australian astronom Robert H. McNaught. Complete name of the comet is: C/2006 P1 (McNaught).
More info and pictures at this link:
http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2006P1/2006P1.html

[CANOPUS]

Have just logged on to www.heavens-above.com and it appears that the comet in question (which I haven't seen for myself yet) is just to the left of the constellation Sagittarius. It should be viewable anywhere on (or slightly above, say at FL350) the Earth's surface if in the northern hemisphere at this time of year. Sagittarius is a winter constellation (i.e. not viewable in the summer) for most of us who live north of the equator and when its main stars are imaginaril:ok: y linked together has the appearance of a "teapot" tilting from left to right. Looking toward Sagittarius one is gazing toward the centre of our Galaxy the Milky Way. I'll be looking for it next time I'm on a night flight or maybe even before if the conditions on the ground are right, I hope you will find it too!!!:ok:

[F4F]

Sure was awesome (flew into MAN from ZRH and had a good look at it for more than 1 hour) :ooh:
Pity the ATC controllers who were asked about and didn't have a clue...

[Ranger 1]

:} Was going to say it was a Nimrod, last Comet I saw one from Boscombe down.
Sorry but its been a hard week so far :{

[Longtimer]

Another shot of it here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0701/mcnaught_jhackmann.jpg

[CANOPUS]

Comet can be seen just to the left of constellation Sagittarius and you don't have to be anywhere near Scotland to see it!!! Enjoy:ok:

[dash6]

Comet can be seen just to the left of constellation Sagittarius
wear the fox hat? (apologies to wear the fox hat.):O

[VP TAA]

I saw it very early in the morning up around 45 north .Thought initialy it was an aircraft contrailing.
Anyone know how long its going to be around for and the best area to see it from?
VP TAA

[Off Stand]

We were operating the LHR-YYC and saw it at around 1900-1930, awesome sight.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<Pity the ATC controllers who were asked about and didn't have a clue...>>

And just why should they be expected to know about it?

[bbrown1664]

HD, do you mean to tell me that there was somthing up there that they were not controlling :=

[F4F]

come on mr DIRECTOR, aren't you trying to control all flying objects :p

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h280/userf4f/IMG_0055.jpg

No, seriously, I just felt sorry for those earthly chaps that were being constantly asked about the name of a comet they obviously didn't know about, no critic intended.
We were mesmerized by the sight and thought the whole world must be in the known... :cool:

[cieloitaliano]

'HD, do you mean to tell me that there was somthing up there that they were not controlling'

Don't think it will be back for a while as LATCC did get wind of it and put it in the LAM hold for 45 minutes :oh:

[tascats]

Just got this pic of it just now at 16:30. I'm in Shetland looking roughly WSW.

http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/5102188/44.jpg

[Kestrel_909]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing the shots.
Just been out looking to the sky like a looney in N.I, can't see a thing with the clouds.

[Rocket2]

Clearly visible on from ground level at Thruxton (but disappearing fast), thanks for the tip-off chaps :ok:

[TMPFICH]

I'm glad so many other people saw it. I was on the A9 from Perth tonight about 1645 and was completely mesmerized by it.
A real wonder of nature.

[BluffOldSeaDog]

Saw it yesterday evening operating to Edinburgh. Took 10minutes to convince my F/O that I wasn't that nuts

[B Fraser]

The comet was clearly visible from central London this evening at 16:50. Fantastic :ok:

[ChocksAwayUK]

The comet was clearly visible from central London this evening at 16:50. Fantastic :ok:
I was looking from Marble Arch then and I couldn't see it at all. I could very clearly see Venus (or was that the comet?) but I where I expected to see McNaught, slightly down and right from what I think was Venus, some trees were blocking the view.
Though what I assumed to be Venus was extremely bright, could that have been it. B Fraser, or any one from the same viewpoint - could you see both venus and McNaught clearly?

[B Fraser]

I agree that the position was very close to where Venus would be expected to be (or even Mercury) however neither have a tail extended in the 1 o'clock position. I was standing on the roof of an office building and estimate that the comet was slightly less than 8 degrees above the horizon. The body of the comet was of comparable brightness to Venus. You may well have seen the comet as the tail was faint due to the background light.

[ChocksAwayUK]

Right, as far as I'm concerned I saw it then! It certainly looked much brighter than I remember Venus as usually being. *tick*

And, if you saw the comet (confirmed by the tail) without noticing what I took to be venus - then what I took to be venus must have been McNaught as you wouldn't have missed what I saw. :ooh:

[Dualbleed]

Anyone see the one today. saw it from abv AMS about 240 deg. Had a long tail.

[Chip Dyson]

As seen from Stansted last night.
http://www.ukarimages.com/is.php?i=12700&img=IMG_0044a.jpg
Not as good as Wednesday night due to more haze and cloud. Expected to be visible until the 14th and possibly being a daylight object by then!!

[captplaystation]

According to Teletext in Spain, tonight was the last night visible ( I think in Northern hemisphere as opposed to Spain) I guess they mean from ground level maybe OK from F370? In any case, I had an excellent view from 1800-1900 local down here in Girona with my trusty old 8x30 bins. Initially I thought it was just a planet, but once I had found something to lean on and stabilise myself the trail was clearly visible sure enough in 1 - 2 o'clock position.They claimed it was now invisible for next 4 nights then becoming visible in Southern hemisphere but if it's a nice sunset again tomorrow I'll be out again just in case. It wasn't half bright though.

[13Alpha]

Saw it en route from LCY to EDI this evening - on the western horizon just after sunset, very impressive :ok: .

13Alpha

[captplaystation]

In spite of what Spanish press said, clearly visible again tonight, one last look tomorrow ?

[bubbers44]

One report said it is so bright you can see it at noon looking south and blocking out the sun with a building it was 5 degrees left of the sun, now even closer. In a few days it should be far enough to the right of the sun to see it better I would assume.

[wiggy]

FYI McNaught is moving rapidly Southwards so we've had our best shot at it from the Northern hemisphere - For those in/heading for the Southern Hemisphere it may continue to brighten and become even more spectacular over the next few days.

If you are V carefull the coma ( the round bit at the front) it is visible in daylight, but it's best to "hide" from direct sunlight by getting just into the shadow of a building or similar and looking about 5 degrees to the East of the Sun..

[TomBola]

I haven't seen one for years - though I can believe about the trail of fire behind it. The last time I saw one was in its military re-incarnation as a Nimrod :}

[Foyl]

It was visible to the naked eye from Sydney last night, and really clear through binoculars, but sadly the digital camera couldn't pick it up. We could see it for about 20min before it disappeared into the bushfire haze. Family in Canberra also got to see it for a brief time.

[cwatters]

Comets photograph quite well on a film camera. Just prop the camera so it can't move. Set it to B (Bulb), Focus at infinity, Press the shutter for 30 seconds or so. Try a few at 20, 40, 60 seconds. The last time I tried this you could see there were two tails on the photo (not sure about this comet).

[Pax Vobiscum]

It's not unusual for comets to develop two tails. One is caused by the pressure of sunlight, and always points directly away from the sun. The other is the result of the charged particles known as the solar wind - magnetohydrodynamic effects may cause this to point in a quite different direction.

NB once the comet is moving away from the sun, the tail is in front of it (in the direction of motion).

[Quokka]

It's first appearance last week above the horizon in the Southern Hemisphere was it's brightest. Clear sky and good weather in Perth with lots of people down the beaches at sunset watching the comet. We took two pairs of 7X50 binocs with us but didn't need them. The nucleus was like a bright star and the tail was huge! It was close to the sun immediately after sunset and just above the horizon. Magic, absolutely magic... perfect for that romantic cuddle after sunset overlooking a beautiful blue Indian Ocean... ;)

[sir.pratt]

Over the North Island NZ on the last couple of nights.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k182/nzmarty/P1190083.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k182/nzmarty/Comet-compressed-800.jpg