A comet‘s tale ...

1. A comet‘s tale ... How much of the world came to miss the greatest comet in decades (and what communicating astronomy with the public may have had to do with it) Daniel Fischer FG Kometen der VdS Germany CAP 2007 Athens

2. Early August 2006 An inconspicious beginning ... ● A most promising orbit for January 2007 ... ● ... but close to the Sun all the time ... ● ... and predicting comet brightnesses is an art

4. The first days of January 2007: early hopes and worries (on specialist sites) m January 1: author says -6 ...

5. Astronomy buffs in mass media take notice January 7

6. January 9

7. January 9: the first press release (from ‚someone‘) I‘ve seen!

8. Visual impression equal to typical digital photograph!

9. January 10

14. January 11

16. End of phase 1: North, bright, small in size, low Phase 2: daytime views! January 12

17. January 13

18. A risky conundrum: • exceedingly rare event, but • only with very clear skies • and possibly dangerous! • -> hardly mentioned at all

19. January 14: perihelion! -5.5 mag.! Daylight naked eye in places! January 15: Southern window about to open – now what ...?

20. January 18: ½ week of greatest glory! Only at dusk – extremely wide tail – as coma sets, tail visibility improves – clear skies essential – Moon soon

21. The Great Southern Observatories awake ... with wide-angle ‚amateur‘ pictures! January 19

22. The best days – if weather cooperates ...

23. Chile Yet another surprise: end of tail rises again for mid-Northern latitudes! Italy!

24. „Using“ the comet for a different purpose ... January 20

25. January 21: Moon returns, best window closes after some 5 days – so how was your weather? 20 21 20

26. 22 23

27. January 28: Southern (Moon-free) morning window

28. January 31: surface brightness way down already February 1: one of very few summary reports

29. The brightest comet since 1965 – the first Great Comet of the ‚modern media‘ era – why then the silence? A rant against comet- ingnorant media on German McN blog

30. Reasons for the problematic coverage • of the McNaught phenomenon in the general media: • few clearcut data on nuclear behaviour for many months • general fear of ‚failing‘ comet among influentials • difficult viewing conditions for lay persons in Northern • pre-perihelion window anyway (or so they thought) • But ... one could have reported much more widely • around Jan 5: brightness increasing dramatically • day after day, soon exceeding even bright planets • around Jan 9: numerous ‚discoveries‘ in high North • around Jan 12: daytime visibility (question of risk) • around Jan 15: it got three times brighter than Venus • Jan 17 to 21: breathtaking tail for Southern hemisphere • Apart from improving comet forecasting (how?) there • should be ‚someone in charge‘ to tell the media • about unusual visible sky events, repeatedly

31. A comet for the IYA?! C/2007 N3 (Lulin) – February 17 til 28, 2009 Brightness about +5.0 mag. -> faint naked eye, easy binocular, nice small telescope view In opposition to the Sun (elongation 170-180°) No Moon in the sky – visible in 1st half of night Elevation 35 ... 45° for Central Europe 70 ... 80° for Mexico 40 ... 50° for Australia A comet for the whole planet to enjoy!