Comet 220P/McNaught (15-August-2026)

15-August-2026

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

After several cloudy and rainy days and nights, the ClearNightSky forecast looked good. I set up my Vespera telescopes to observe comet C220P/McNaught. I updated the comet coordinates (RA/Dec 02h 55m 24s, +09° 32′ 29″) as manual targets. Then set up overnight plans in Singularity for the Vespera telescopes to observe several other targets prior to comet 220P/McNaught. The first comet observation started at 03:00 then repeated every 20-30 minutes. I have posted 180° full sky and 360° Little Planet time-lapse videos of the actual overnight sky conditions for the period of these observations (14/15-August-2026).

All of the telescopes were able to find and make several observations of the comet. The comet has a longer tail than it did on 10-August. It is brighter than 11-August, but the viewing conditions that night were marginal. According to the Comet Observers Database (COBS) the visual magnitude of the comet was 9.0 for the night.

The slideshows include the straight out of the telescope (SOOT) images and images processed with PixInsight or Sky Color Studio (included with the Vaonis Singularity application). For scale, I’ve included annotated and cropped images (1.0° FOV width). All of the images including the 16-bit RAW/TIFF files are available on my PhotoShelter site (20260815). Click on the i below the slideshow to view the image captions.

Vespera 1

Vespera 2

Vespera 3

Vespera Pro 1A

Vespera Pro 1B

Vespera Pro 2

Links to my previous observations of comet 220P/McNaught: 20260606, 20260609, 20260616, 20260810, 20260811

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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.