P/2021 N1 (ZTF) cruising by 220P/McNaught
Taken by Mike Olason on July 9, 2026 @
Tucson, Arizona
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Details:
On the morning of 2026 July 9 Comet P/2021 N1 (ZTF) was 1.4 degrees away from Comet 220P/McNaught, P/2021 N1 was moving 2.56 degrees per day across Earths sky as it headed towards its closest approach to 220P later in the day about 1.2 degrees from 220P. 220P was magnitude 12.7, 19 times brighter than P/2021 N1 at magnitude 15.9 in these images. The 32% illuminated Moon only 14 degrees to the northeast did not make it easy to image the 2 comets and their tails in the same picture as one can see, P/2021 N1 actually had a longer tail visible, a pencil thin 3' long tail, 220Ps tail was wider and 2' long. With P/2021 N1 moving so fast relative to Earth and 220P it was not possible to take a longer image of both comets together without blurring one or the other. Interestingly, 220P is moving towards the Earth for its close approach at 94 million miles on October 12 after reaching perihelion on June 14, P/2021 N1 is now moving away from Earth after its close approach at 15.3 million miles on June 29 and is headed towards perihelion on July 28. Both comets have probably reached their peak brightness as seen from Earth unless they have some unexpected eruptions. Click on the larger images to get the best resolution for each image.
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