Hello ... After reading the article posted by Anonymous Lurker on Dec. 13/08 where he speaks of Comet McNaught being connected to Obama I felt I should throw in a little more light on the name 'McNaught(on)'. Thanks ... AnnetteTo Anonymous Lurker -- Re: article of Dec. 13/08 where you speak of Comet McNaught being connected to Obama. I felt I should throw in a little more light on the name 'McNaught(on)' as follows :
McNaughton Name Meaning and History
Scottish and Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Neachtain, a patronymic from the personal name Neachtan, a name of the god of water in Irish mythology. This is cognate with Latin Neptunus ‘Neptune’, the Roman sea-god.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4Surname: Mcnaught
This most interesting surname, found in Scotland in the late 13th Century, has two possible origins. Firstly, it may be a Donegal form of "MacKnight" (an Irish name, though not Gaelic in origin, which is the Anglicized form of "Mac an ridire", meaning "son of the knight", an Irish surname adopted by a branch of the Norman family of Fitzsimons, who were located in Co. Meath, in medieval times. Alternatively, the surname may sometimes be of Scottish origin, being an abbreviated form of "MacNaughton", which is the Anglicized version of the Gaelic "Mac Neachdainn", composed of the elements "mac", son of, and the personal name "Neachdain", from the Pictish "Nechtan", pure. Other spellings of the surname include McNaughtan, McNaughten, McNauchtan, McNeight, and McNutt. Cristinus McNawyche witnessed a charter by John de Meneteeche, lord of Arran and Knapdale, to the monastery of Kilwinning in 1357, according to the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland (1306 - 1668). Isabel MacNaught married Roger Austin on April 14th 1700 at Londonderry, and Dora McNaught married Cromwell Nicholson on July 30th 1733 at Downpatrick, Co. Down. One Pat McNaught, aged 29 yrs., a famine emigrant, sailed from Liverpool aboard the "Windsor-Castle" bound for New York on June 9th 1847. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gillecrist MacNachtan, which was dated 1247, in the "Charters, Bulls and Other Documents Relating to the Abbey of Inchaffray", during the reign of King Alexander 11, Ruler of Scotland, 1214 - 1249. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.Anonymous Lurker you should put out 'all' the name meanings, not just those that match your opinion. And by the way could you please cite where you found the info that 'naught' means "son of wickedness/perdition". If you say that Mc is Gaelic for son (of), than you must also look to the Gaelic for the ancient meaning of Naught, not a Hebrew concordance. Notice in the above that the name has to do with 'pure'.Also, the 'sign' of Comet McNaught was first discovered, sighted, on August 7/ 2006 over Australia, (as seen below) not Jan.17 / 2007. So how does that tie in with Obama as you claim? Just trying to clarify. Thanks! ... AnnetteDiscoveryMcNaught discovered the comet in a CCD image on August 7, 2006, in Ophiuchus, shining very dimly at a magnitude of about +17. From August through November 2006, the comet was imaged and tracked as it moved through Ophiuchus and Scorpius, brightening as high as magnitude +9, still too dim to be seen with the unaided eye.[4] Then, for most of December, the comet was lost in the glare of the sun.
Upon recovery, it became apparent that the comet was brightening very rapidly, reaching naked-eye visibility in early January 2007. It was visible to northern hemisphere observers, in Sagittarius and surrounding constellations, until about January 13. Perihelion was January 12 at a distance of 0.17 AU. [5] This was close enough to the Sun to be observed by the space-based Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The comet entered SOHO's LASCO C3 camera's field of view on January 12, and was viewable on the web in near real-time. The comet exited SOHO's field of view on January 16. Due to its proximity to the sun, the Northern Hemisphere ground-based viewers had a short window for viewing, and the comet could be spotted only during bright twilight.
As it reached perihelion on January 12, it became the brightest comet since Comet Ikeya-Seki in 1965.[6] The comet was dubbed the Great Comet of 2007 by Space.com.[7] On January 13 and 14, 2007, the comet attained an estimated maximum apparent magnitude of -6.0, as reported by several observers in the Northern hemisphere.[5]
The comet was visible in daylight about 5°- 10° southeast of the sun from January 12 to 14, with a peak brightness of magnitude -5.5.[8] Perigee (closest approach to the Earth) was January 15, 2007, at a distance of 0.82 AU.[9]
After passing the sun, McNaught became visible in the Southern hemisphere. In Australia, according to Siding Spring Observatory at Coonabarabran, where the comet was discovered, it was to have reached its theoretical peak in brightness on Sunday January 14 just after sunset,[10] when it would have been visible for 23 minutes. On January 15 the comet was observed at Perth Observatory with an estimated apparent magnitude of -4.0.[5]
The comet has faded out of view. It may still be visible to a very large observatory telescope, as a very faint object near the constellation Octans.[11]