Comet McNaught Graces Our Skies

- Zelia Mullins -

On Saturday, 20th January 2007 at around 8pm our family drove out on the Skaapieseinde road to view McNaught’s Comet also known as the Great Comet of 2007. We weren’t exactly sure where to go but were told that we should just follow the road and that we would see the cars......this was not an exaggeration – it seemed that the whole of Prince Albert had turned out for the event!

There was a festival-type atmosphere as everyone awaited the appearance of the nocturnal visitor. Then just to the left of the setting sun, a little glimmer was seen on the horizon. At first it looked like a very bright, twinkling star but as it gradually got bigger and brighter we were able to see its long, spectacular tail. I am told that when a comet approaches the Sun, its head leads the way, but as it travels away from the Sun, the tail is in front. This is due to the effects of the Solar winds and means that the tail always points away from the Sun.

Hans and Tilanie Daehne of Astro Tours were on hand with their telescope to provide answers to all of our questions. What everybody wanted to know of course is what a comet is made of? Hans explained that the nucleus consists mostly of ice, rock and dust and that the tail, made of gas and dust, streams from the nucleus – thus the name comet which is derived from the Latin, cometa meaning “long-haired”. The tail can apparently stretch for millions of kilometres!

Hans clarified that comets seem to mostly originate from the mysterious “Oort Cloud” on the outskirts of the solar system and are basically massive pieces of rock floating in space, orbiting the Sun. When the rock is attracted to the Sun it begins to “melt” due to the solar wind and radiation pounding on it. The nucleus starts shedding materials to form a tail. You’re not seeing flames, as most would assume, the comet is actually “melting”. Every time a comet comes close to the Sun, a part of it melts. Over time, it will completely disappear.

Comet McNaught was discovered on 7 August 2006 by Robert McNaught based at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. The Observatory routinely scans the skies for NEO’s - or in plain English - Near Earth Objects, which include not only benign comets but more sinister comets, asteroids and other objects that may impact the Earth. The comet has been given the designation C/2006 P1 and it is a so-called “non-periodic” comet, meaning that it might never return to the Sun again. The experts say that it will take more than 200 years, perhaps even thousands to make one orbit around the Sun. So if you missed Comet McNaught, I am afraid you missed an opportunity of a lifetime!