Namibia's night sky lights up with green comet 220P/McNaught

Astronomers captured a bright green comet, 220P/McNaught, streaking over Namibia on Aug. 8, 2026. Discovered by Robert H. McNaught, the comet orbits the Sun every 5.5 years and underwent a dramatic outburst around perihelion in June, brightening thousands of times. It brightened again in August to roughly 600 times its usual brightness, enabling photographers Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger to photograph it with a 12-inch astrograph and a ZWO ASI 6200 MM Pro camera. Space.com named it the Space Photo of the Day for Aug. 12, 2026, noting the sight as part of the ongoing Perseids meteor shower.