Explanation:
A new comet is brightening and is now expected to become visible to the unaided eye later this month.
C/2009 R1 (McNaught) is already showing an
impressive tail and is currently visible through
binoculars.
The above image, taken yesterday from the
Altamira Observatory in the
Canary Islands
and spanning about five degrees, shows an impressive
green coma and a
long ion tail in front of distant star trails.
Although
predicting the brightness of comets is notoriously difficult,
current estimates place
Comet McNaught as
becoming visible to unaided northern hemisphere
observers in late June, before sunrise, and in early July, after sunset.
Discovered by
Robert McNaught last year, the sun-orbiting iceberg will pass the Earth next week and will continue to melt and shed debris as it
closes in on the Sun until early July.
After reaching about half of the
Earth-Sun distance
from the Sun, the comet should fade rapidly as it then heads out of the
inner Solar System.
