Comet McNaught
comet
Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007 and given the designation C/2006 P1, is a non-periodic comet discovered on 7 August 2006 by British-Australian astronomer Robert H. McNaught using the Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. It was the brightest comet in over 40 years, and was easily visible to the naked eye for observers in the Southern Hemisphere in January and February 2007.
With an estimated peak magnitude of −5.5, the comet was the second-brightest since 1935. Around perihelion on 12 January, it was visible worldwide in broad daylight. Its tail measured an estimated at 74.935 million km (0.501 AU) in length and stretched 35 degrees across the sky at its peak.
The brightness of C/2006 P1 near perihelion was enhanced by forward scattering.
Discovery
McNaught discovered the comet in a CCD image on 7 August 2006 during the course of routine observations for the Siding Spring Survey, which searched for Near-Earth Objects that might represent a collision threat to Earth. The comet was discovered in Ophiuchus, shining very dimly at a magnitude of about +17. From August through November 2006, the comet was imaged and tracked as it moved through Ophiuchus and Scorpius, brightening as high as magnitude +9, still too dim to be seen with the unaided eye. Then, for most of December, the comet was lost in the glare of the Sun.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Comet McNaught” is comet. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Comet, McNaught and comet, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “comet” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4705. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2007, 2006 and 1935.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Comet McNaught”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Comet McNaught primary sources, Comet McNaught archive and Comet research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Comet McNaught”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Comet McNaught” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.