Comet McNaught revisited
The excellent APOD pictures of the year brought back pleasant memories of the magnificent splendor of comet McNaught while traveling through the Southern skies. I revisited some of the excellent images taken by a close friend, Josef Kruger, from his rooftop. What struck me were the many stars from Southern constellations captured in all his shots. Three stars imitating the Belt of Orion were particularly noticeable just to the left of the tail of the comet. I identified these as delta, beta, and gamma Pavonis of the Southern constellation of Pavus ( the Peacock). Alpha Pavonis ( Peacock) can be seen lower down. Far to the left is Alpha Centauri, our Sun's closest neighbor.
Happy New Year to you all.
Phil
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If at first you fail, you're running average
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