Comet 220P/McNaught (10-August-2026)

10-August-2026

—

by

Post Categories: Comet 220P/McNaught, New Jersey, Vespera 1, Vespera 2, Vespera 3, Vespera Pro 1, Vespera Pro 2

The SpaceWeather site had a note that Comet 220P/McNaught had a 2nd outburst and brightened ca. 600-fold on 05-August. My last observation of the comet was on 16-June when its magnitude was 12.4. The overnight skies here have been cloudy every night since the outburst was announced. ClearDarkSky finally forecasted good viewing conditions. Based on the RA/Dec coordinates (02h 46m 51s; +09° 32′ 31″) from Stellarium, the comet would be visible by 03:00.

I programed the comet’s position into the Vaonis Singularity application for the Vespera telescopes as a manual target. A little after 03:00 the sky was clear and I had five generations of Vespera telescopes observe comet 220P/McNaught. The comet is brighter and looks different than it did at my last observation (16-June-2026). The unedited SOOT (straight out of the telescope) jpg image, the 16-bit raw/tiff image, and processed images (PixInsight) are available on my PhotoShelter site (20260810).

According to the Comet Observers Database (COBS) the visual magnitude for this night is +8.2. I missed being able to observe the comet at its maximum magnitude of +6.5. I’ve posted time-lapse videos (180° and 360°) for the viewing conditions of the overnight sky (20260809/10).

The following slideshows include the straight out of the telescope (SOOT) images and images processed with PixInsight. For scale, I’ve included annotated and cropped images (0.5° FOV width). All of the images including the 16-bit RAW/TIFF files are available on my PhotoShelter site (20260810). Click on the i below the slideshow to view the image captions.

Vespera 1

Vespera 2

Vespera 3

Vespera Pro 1

Vespera Pro 2

In the unprocessed jpg images the center of the image has a brighter background. It is more noticeable in the Vespera 3 and Vespera Pro 2 images. Processing the images with PixInsight — Gradient Correction flattened the background; Spectrophotometric Color Correction provided white balance; and NoiseXterminator removed the noise).

Links to my previous observations of comet 220P/McNaught: 20260606, 20260609, 20260616

Search the website

Links to My Sites

About the author

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time observing and photographing the plants and animals while expanding a wildflower garden/meadow in the backyard. When the sky is clear, I have telescopes viewing the night sky.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31