A comet will brush by us

[undergroundpanther]

HOT COMET: Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is plunging toward the Sun. It won't hit, but at closest approach on Jan. 13th it will be only 0.17 AU away--much closer than Mercury (0.38 AU). When the hot comet emerges later this month it could be brighter than a 1st-magnitude star. Or not. No one knows what will happen.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

A date of note is Jan. 14th whenComet McNaught passes less than a degree from the planet Mercury . Damn..

[shadowknows69]

1. Well my wife will be pleased to know

that the world may end before she has to get another year older on the 17th. I'm not shopping until the 15th now.

[Pachamama]

9. Your wife and I have the same birthday!

She must be fabulous! Don't Capricorns make life's journey more exciting? :hi:

[Bassic]

15. I'm from the 2nd and I agree

:D

[Clark2008]

12. My birthday is the 12th!

I guess I'll have a big candle to blow out, eh?

:7

[bdamomma]

19. hey me too!!!!! can't keep us Capricorns down

we are ambitious people. Happy Birthday!!!

[alfredo]

2. It will be clear this Wednesday I will take a look.

[pecwae]

14. Gorgeous! What is it? nt

[alfredo]

18. That's the comet over Germany.

Go outside when the sun goes down and look to the sunset. It should be visible before sunrise too.

[EnviroBat]

20. Wow! Nice pic!

[catzies]

3. It says you need a clear view of the western horizon at sunset, does that mean

I could see it here in Malibu, which is 15 minutes away?

edit - and believe me with these damn winds it is clear! #@&*$! Santa Anas.

[Trillo]

4. I don't believe that "no one knows what will happen"

I think it's BS.

[originalpckelly]

6. Are you implying it will hit?

.17 au is equal to 15,802,499.19 miles. It's close in astronomical terms, but that's way more than the circumference of earth, 245.02 times the circumference of Earth, or 245,000% larger than the circumference of Earth. That's far.

[tuvor]

8. Shouldn't you be comparing it to the Sun's circumference instead?

After all, that's where it's headed.

(Sun's circumference = 2,713,406 miles according to http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/farid/sciencekids/how.html)

[Bill McBlueState]

22. "no one knows what will happen"

I think they just mean that nobody knows how bright the comet will be after its encounter with the sun. There's a lot to account for in determining how much of the comet will be disrupted by the sun's gravity. It's too complicated to model with any precision.

[Trillo]

23. It's possible

that there are too many unknown variables or that use of existing tools isn't comprehensive enough, if so, I guess its an area for a thesis.

Yet, I seem to recall the prediction that the comet Tempel l that had the 820lb copper slug fired into it a year or two ago, the one the Russians either had or were threatening to sue over, was estimated to have virtually no alteration in its course as a result, so it seems there was a level of scientific confidence expressed regarding certain aspects of that comet's orbital modeling, and it was a confidence the Russians took exception to.

I do remember that when it passed around the sun, it was reported as brighter than expected suggesting (to me) the new hole was causing a faster loss of warmed, liquid mass.

[cliss]

5. Thanks for sharing, UGP.

Looks like Hot Times in the Galaxy this month...

I will be on pins & needles to make sure Orbits follow their intended destinations...

[Porcupine]

7. Zombies, here we come!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Comet

"Daddy would have got us Uzis."

[Mythsaje]

10. LOL...

That was one of the first thoughts that came to my mind...

[YOY]

17. I was hoping for a 'Thundar the Barbarian' Apocalypse

[ktlyon]

11. I predict a great light will appear in the west and on that day

a child will be born in a hospital.... This child will go on to do something....:bounce:

[Skidmore]

13. What is an AU?

[maine_raptor]

16. An AU

AU = Astronomical Unit is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, approx 93 million miles.

[cwydro]

21. Thanks for the info!

I love space stuff.