Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) in 2010

Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught)

Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) is expected to be magnitude 10 or brighter from March 27 to mid May, reaching 9.6 during April. Throughout this period it will be north of the celestial equator so at best low in New Zealand skies, rising after midnight and visible in the pre-dawn sky.

At Auckland its greatest altitude on March 27 will be 34°, at Invercargill 10° lower. As the comet will be moving to the north, it will get steadily lower on subsequent mornings and eventually not rise. It will not rise at all after April 14 from Invercargill, April 18 from Wellington and April 20 from Auckland. For a few days before these dates it will be very low and virtually unobservable.

C/2009 K5 (McNaught) is another of Robert McNaught's many discoveries, on 2009 May 27. Its minimum, perihelion, distance from the Sun is 1.423 AU at the end of April. The comet's eccentricity is slightly more than one, which suggests this is its first visit to the Sun, and that it will never return.

Chart showing the path of C/2009 K5 (McNaught) from late March to mid April.

The chart is a southern hemisphere view with celestial north at the bottom and east to the right.
Stars to magnitude 7.5 are shown, those brighter than 5.5 are labelled, without a decimal point.
The circle on the chart represents a field of view 5° in diameter, a fairly typical field of view for binoculars.

Path of C/2009 K5 (McNaught).

Chart prepared using GUIDE 8.0. Program produced by Project Pluto.

Positional data for C/2009 K5 (McNaught) from late March to early May 2010.

The table shows the position of the comet, its distance in AU from the Sun and Earth, its magnitude, elongation from the Sun, the constellation it is in and the approximate time it sets at Auckland. Times will be later at other places in NZ.

      Date        RA      Dec     Sun    Earth   Mag   Elong  Con   Rise am
   NZ morning   hr min   deg  '    AU     AU            deg         Auckland
   27 Mar 2010  19 30.6  +19 11   1.500  1.438  10.1   73.6   Sge   3:25 NZDT
   31 Mar 2010  19 36.8  +24 15   1.483  1.381   9.9   75.2   Vul   3:33 NZDT
    4 Apr 2010  19 43.3  +29 42   1.468  1.335   9.8   76.4   Cyg   2:45 NZST
    8 Apr 2010  19 50.5  +35 29   1.455  1.299   9.7   77.3   Cyg   3:01 NZST
   12 Apr 2010  19 58.4  +41 29   1.444  1.276   9.6   77.7   Cyg   3:26 NZST
   16 Apr 2010  20 07.4  +47 38   1.436  1.265   9.6   77.6   Cyg   4:05 NZST
   20 Apr 2010  20 18.0  +53 46   1.429  1.267   9.6   77.0   Cyg   5:18 NZST
   24 Apr 2010  20 30.9  +59 44   1.425  1.282   9.6   76.0   Cyg   Does not rise
   28 Apr 2010  20 47.4  +65 25   1.423  1.308   9.6   74.6   Cep   Does not rise
    2 May 2010  21 09.8  +70 41   1.423  1.345   9.7   72.8   Cep   Does not rise
    6 May 2010  21 42.9  +75 23   1.426  1.391   9.8   70.9   Cep   Does not rise
   10 May 2010  22 35.7  +79 20   1.431  1.445   9.9   68.7   Cep   Does not rise
   14 May 2010  00 03.8  +82 06   1.438  1.505  10.0   66.4   Cep   Does not rise

Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand

The Brighter Comets in 2010: C/2009 K5 (McNaught)