Eagles Fan in 'Skins Land

Too bad we've been socked into a cloudy pattern -- observers all over the world have been reporting that Comet McNaught is easily found with the naked eye in broad daylight! It is the brightest comet since Ikeya-Seki in 1965 and the second brightest in the past century. The comet now around magnitude -6 (brighter than Venus) and has now rounded the sun and is headed rapidly toward the night skies above the Southern Hemisphere, so we'll never see it in dark skies again, but for the next few days it will be below the sun during the day. How long it will remain bright enough to spot in daylight is uncertain -- since it has now passed its closest solar approach, the comet will start to lose steam and get noticeably fainter within a few days. Our next clear day appears to be Wednesday, which may be too late. But keep those fingers crossed!

Daylight photos of Comet McNaught can be found at Spaceweather.com.