Comet McNaught

1
New Zealand is enjoying a rare & spectacular treat at present: the sight of a new comet so bright it can be seen at twilight without binoculars. It's the most impressive comet seen in the southern skies for more than 40 years, becoming brighter as it heats up close to the Sun. (It's been visible in the NH too, but I think we're now getting the best view. There's also a possibility the Sun's gravitational pull will cause it to break up.)

The comet, 2006 P1, was discovered on 7 August 2006 by Australian astronomer Rob McNaught. It's now in the southwestern sky, about 20 degrees west of Venus, and has been moving from late Capricorn to early Aquarius, connecting with a number of fixed stars in this area.

I've just discovered an online UPI daily horoscope column (!): http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/?c=Quirks which placed Comet McNaught at 26 Capricorn on 11 January; and puts it at 2 Aquarius on 18 January, approaching a conjunction with Mercury at 6 Aquarius.

A great starting point for considering what Comet McNaught means in astrological terms is, of course, right here at Skyscript, with an article by Deb, Hale Bopp: Harbinger of Government Flop and links to other relevant articles by David McCann, and Jonathan Flanery, and a couple of external links: http://www.skyscript.co.uk/comets.html

Hale Bopp appeared in 1997, the year of the Labour Party's election victory and Princess Diana's death, events we've just seen played out again in the movie The Queen. Deb's comments at the start of her article apply to Comet McNaught too, which also seems to have caught astrologers "on the hop" and probably doesn't auger well for governments and princes either, although there aren't too many years when a prince or government somewhere isn't defeated or otherwise despatched!

From Deb's article:

The recent interest in comet Hale Bopp appeared to catch most astrologers on the hop and reminded us of how little we understand about the use of 'celestial omens' in astrology today. With media interest at a peak, sunsign columnists babbled about the marvellous opportunities trailing in its wake, but one wonders where they get their information from? Certainly not from observations of the past; for comets have a dreadful reputation as portents for social unrest, collapse of government, outbreaks of violence and 'the death of princes'.

So is it just "co-incidence" that a major comet appears in the year of Blair's election to power, and another arrives as he looks likely to lose power?

However, it does seem to be making a more spectacular show in the southern hemisphere so I'm wondering what it portends for this part of the world.

In NZ we have a new leader of the National Party, John Key, who is set to challenge the three-term Labour government and its well-established leader Helen Clark. This is will be a critical year for both of them, but the election isn't due until 2008.

Jonathan Flanery's article says comets arriving from the Oort Cloud, as McNaught has:

...bring messages and decrees from the fixed stars or, again as the ancient Chinese thought of them, the seats of celestial power, the principalities of the heavenly kingdom.
...The message is not delivered until the comet makes its closest approach to the Sun where the message is assimilated into the system.


Which places more weight on the fixed stars; adds some interest to the comet's likely conjunction with Mercury; and also with Helen Clark's natal Venus at 3 Aquarius. (I'm not confident about her birth-time, but our PM was born on 26 February 1950, in Hamilton, NZ, 37S47, 175E17.)

Mmmm, I see Tony Blair has the NN at 6 Aquarius, and the Moon at 11 Aquarius, both in the 19th...
Data: 6 May 1953
Edinburgh, Scotland
6:10 am, BST -1:00
55N57
003W13

This comet could be very significant. As always, I welcome others' comments, additional information etc.

3
Hi Susan

Thanks for raising this. I only knew about this comet from a small snippet in a newspaper a week or so ago, where it was mentioned because it was (I?m not sure if it still is) visible from the South-East of England. I meant to find more information about it, but then it all slipped my mind as I moved on to other things. I never thought about the connection with Blair, and how a comet has appeared with his entry and exit?. but of course! Interesting.

4
Hi Susan,

Of course, we have a pretty good view of it here in Australia too. After reading your post I had a look at the charts of Australia and John Howard (our Prime Minister), hoping to see signs of his sudden demise. Unfortunately, no such luck. He doesn't have anything in Aquarius. The closest is Mars at 28 deg Capricorn, which is pretty close to where the comet was discovered. Maybe this is symbolic of the fact that John Howard is pretty much the only one left in the world who is supporting George Bush in his desire to significantly increase the numbers of soldiers into Iraq.

5
useful data From Martin Lewicki:

A zodiacal ephemeris, (you can look up his page online I believe. this info is from a list I moderate)

COMET C/2006 P1 McNAUGHT
____Date______ZLong______ZLat__
2007-Jan-01__ 10 41 CP__ +16 04
2007-Jan-02__ 11 47 CP__ +15 59
2007-Jan-03__ 12 55 CP__ +15 54
2007-Jan-04__ 14 08 CP__ +15 47
2007-Jan-05__ 15 26 CP__ +15 39
2007-Jan-06__ 16 50 CP__ +15 30
2007-Jan-07__ 18 20 CP__ +15 19
2007-Jan-08__ 19 48 CP__ +14 08
2007-Jan-09__ 21 23 CP__ +12 54
2007-Jan-10__ 23 05 CP__ +11 38
2007-Jan-11__ 24 52 CP__ +10 19
2007-Jan-12__ 26 31 CP__ +07 60
2007-Jan-13__ 27 54 CP__ +04 41
2007-Jan-14__ 28 53 CP__ +00 24
2007-Jan-15__ 29 50 CP__ -02 52
2007-Jan-16__ 00 17 AQ__ -07 05
2007-Jan-17__ 00 45 AQ__ -10 16
2007-Jan-18__ 01 01 AQ__ -13 26
2007-Jan-19__ 01 24 AQ__ -15 35
2007-Jan-20__ 01 24 AQ__ -18 41
2007-Jan-21__ 01 35 AQ__ -20 49
2007-Jan-22__ 01 40 AQ__ -22 55
2007-Jan-23__ 02 00 AQ__ -24 03
2007-Jan-24__ 01 58 AQ__ -26 08
2007-Jan-25__ 02 13 AQ__ -27 15
2007-Jan-26__ 02 25 AQ__ -28 21
2007-Jan-27__ 02 36 AQ__ -29 28
2007-Jan-28__ 02 45 AQ__ -30 34
2007-Jan-29__ 02 52 AQ__ -31 39
2007-Jan-30__ 02 57 AQ__ -32 45
2007-Jan-31__ 03 25 AQ__ -32 54
2007-Feb-01__ 03 28 AQ__ -33 59
2007-Feb-02__ 03 30 AQ__ -35 04
2007-Feb-03__ 03 56 AQ__ -35 13
2007-Feb-04__ 03 55 AQ__ -36 16
2007-Feb-05__ 04 22 AQ__ -36 25
2007-Feb-06__ 04 18 AQ__ -37 29
2007-Feb-07__ 04 43 AQ__ -37 37
2007-Feb-08__ 04 38 AQ__ -38 41
2007-Feb-09__ 05 02 AQ__ -38 49
2007-Feb-10__ 05 26 AQ__ -38 58
2007-Feb-11__ 05 18 AQ__ -40 01
2007-Feb-12__ 05 42 AQ__ -40 10
2007-Feb-13__ 06 06 AQ__ -40 18
2007-Feb-14__ 05 54 AQ__ -41 20

Martin

6
Many thanks granny for that excellent data from Martin's site, just what I was after - should have thought to go there in the first place!

And Sue - obviously I was doing what NZ's cricketers are probably trying to do after yet another thumping by your team: forget about Australia!!
Martin has posted some photos of Comet McNaught taken from his base in South Australia, and links to other info on his Skywalk January 07 page:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mlewicki ... manac.html

Mr Bush doesn't have any planets in the Capricorn/Aquarius area this comet is traversing - but his Descendant is at 7 Aquarius (according to his chart at Astrodatabank). However, if the data Martin has posted is for the period it is expected to be visible, then it doesn't quite reach that point before it disappears from our sight.

I'm embarrassed to say I still haven't worked out which chart to use for New Zealand, and I'm not sure there's agreement among NZ astologers about which one to use either. My preference is for the Treaty of Waitangi chart, and I thought I had a valid time for that, but recent information has under-mined my confidence in it. However, we do know the Treaty was signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi, and on that day Mercury was at 3 Aquarius (Helen Clark's Venus conjoins it). In the Treaty chart I have, Mercury is in the 10th and the MC is at 27 Capricorn so if that chart was valid, I'd expect Comet McNaught to have considerable significance for New Zealand's government, the PM, other famous people, and our international standing & profile.

Oddly enough, the PM and Sir Edmund Hillary, probably our most celebrated national hero, are currently in Antarctica to mark the 50th anniversary of Scott Base tomorrow. Sir Edmund's birth data is 20 July 1919, Auckland NZ, NZT -11.30 (from Wikipedia) but I have no time, so no ASC/MC. There were no planets in Capricorn or Aquarius on that day.

There's also something niggling at the back of my mind about an old prophecy to do with the 6th degree of Aquarius - will let you know when I remember what it is!

7
Thank you for sharing that lovely pic with us Steven - and an apt reminder of the scope of this forum, with that mid-afternoon sunset time in Norway, as we enjoy long summer evenings in New Zealand!

For those still pondering Comet McNaught, Nina Gryphon's 17th January post at: http://gryphonastrology.wordpress.com is worth reading (as the gorgeous image she has used to illustrate it is worth seeing - her site has stunning images). She notes that the comet was towards the end of Saggittarius when it was discovered last August; and describes the countries, animals and types of events associated with that initial position.

The fact that this comet has been, and is being seen by so many people in so many countries is some cause for concern given the generally negative view of what comets portend. Not the best time to rev up an already bloody conflict in Iraq.

Which leads me to mention - and I'm sure many of you have already seen it - Nina's elegant delineation of the chart for Baghdad: www.gryphonastrology.info/electionalast ... ghdad.html

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chuckling, AStrodienst goes to Gregorian automatically so I had to go 4 aug 762 at 2:30 pm to get the chart to line up properly, but just do natal chart and transits for that chart with 4 july 1776 and have your self an AHHH moment!

Uranus/mars, venus/venus, Mercury/Mercury, Sun/Neptune, Moon and PoF... and on and on...

Granny