C/2006 P1 [SEP] discoverer or inventor
C/2006 P1
Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007 and given the designation C/2006 P1, is a non-periodic comet discovered on 7 August 2006 by British-Australian astronomer Robert H. McNaught using the Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. It was the brightest comet in over 40 years, and was easily visible to the naked eye for observers in the Southern Hemisphere in January and February 2007.
With an estimated peak magnitude of −5.5, the comet was the second-brightest since 1935. Around perihelion on 12
of Australia in 1988 for his contributions to science.
- Robert McNaught has been described as "the world's greatest comet discoverer" – he is a prolific discoverer of both asteroids and comets; , the International Astronomical Union lists him as the discoverer of 458 minor planets, and NASA lists 72 comets and asteroids bearing his name. He is perhaps best known to the public for his discovery of comet C/2006 P1, also known as the "Great Comet of 2007", which was the second-brightest comet since reliable