Interactive Star Charts, Planets, Meteors, Comets, Telescopes. APOD. Heavens Above. ISS - Visible Passes. STS-132 - Visible Passes. Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home. Cassini. Phoenix. Space.com. SpaceWeather. Weather Resources. SolarSoft Latest Events. C/2009 R1 McNaught - June 2010. From Sky & Tel... We rarely see a good comet when it's at its best. Most comets are brightest when nearest the Sun - just when they’re most likely to be hidden in the Sun’s glare or below the sunrise or sunset horizon. That's the situation this spring with Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught). Comet Timetable As of mid-May the comet was about magnitude 8.5 (compared to the 10 we originally predicted), as it rose about an hour before the start of astronomical twilight for mid-northern observers.
On the morning of June 5th the comet skims just north of the large, loose open cluster NGC 752. The helpful conjunctions continue as the comet passes about 1° north of the open cluster M34 in Perseus on the morning of June 10th, and 3° south of 1.8 magnitude Mirfak (Alpha Persei) on the 13th. The comet will be lost to view by June’s end - just before it reaches perihelion on July 2nd, 0.405 astronomical unit from the Sun. Many McNaughts. Hayabusa Mission.