These stunning views of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) were captured by its discoverer, Rob McNaught, from the Sliding Spring Observatory in Australia (roughly 400 km Northwest of Sydney). The images were taken on January 20th after sunset. The 90-second (top) and 50-second (bottom) exposures beautifully highlight the wispy remnants of the comet’s dust tail.

Observers in the Northern hemisphere weren’t treated to this intense a display, but those who were graced with fair weather still raved about it, regardless. I wasn’t as fortunate, sadly, never receiving a suitable viewing opportunity due to cloud cover, rain, ice, and snow.

Observers down under still have a chance or two remaining to catch the comet before it disappears below the horizon. McNaught’s dust tail stretches far enough, though, that it’s still visible from dark sky locations in North America an hour or two after sunset (and SkyTonight reports that such a thing hasn’t occurred since the mid-18th century!). Contributors to Spaceweather’s image gallery have succeeded in capturing some lovely parting glimpses.

Yesterday evening I was treated to the first clear skies at sunset in roughly two weeks, and while I don’t live far enough away from city lights to view the tail’s remnants with the naked eye, I was able to capture a couple of its streaks (poorly) with camera exposures of 20 seconds or greater.

The next great comet will simply have to be courteous enough to appear during a long stretch of stable, cloudless evenings.

The ISS in its present configuration, photographed from Shuttle Discovery on December 19th, 2006 during the STS-116 mission. An incredible view from some 220 statute miles above our big blue marble.

Since construction of the ISS has resumed in full after the setbacks suffered by the Shuttle program (e.g. Columbia accident, previous issues with foam shedding from the external tank), I’d wanted to beef up on my knowledge of the Station and what’s in store between now and 2010 when the existing orbiters are scheduled to be retired. As a result, I’d planned over the weekend to pick up a new book in the Apogee series on space in order to brush up on all the the pertinent details. While the folks at NASA probably weren’t reading my mind, it’s a neat coincidence that yesterday they published a comprehensive online reference manual detailing all things ISS, which appears identical to the book linked above. It’s available in a sequence of .pdf files linked below (Adobe Reader is required for viewing) — and, please note that these files are pretty sizable, so dial-up users should avoid them and opt for the hard copy.

· Introduction / Table of Contents
· Assembly Stages
· Elements
· Transportation / Logistics
· Systems
· International Facilities and Operations
· Missions
· Interesting Facts
· Appendix
· Partners / Contacts

It should also be noted that with upcoming additions to the Station including new solar arrays, the ISS should become brighter and brighter in the night sky, making for a particularly appealing target for we amateur astronomers. Apparently nobody’s yet sure of what visual magnitude the platform will reach, but rest assured it will become increasingly prominent toward its completion. You won’t require any serious optical equipment in order to view the International Space Station; all you need are your eyes and suitably dark observing conditions. In order to see when ISS will pass overhead in your area, surf over to Heavens Above and check out the pass predictions listed.