Delta Scorpii and a comet tonight

by Jane Houston Jones


Tonight 7/25 11:30PM or 06:30 UT 7/26, we found the elusive comet again near the first set of "feet" of Ursa Major, xi and nu Uma, here in Northern California. We were just out on the back deck with 7x50 binos and my 6 inch Schwaar Companion reflector. It was an easy starhop, once we were able to find the two guide stars! It was easiest in the binoculars. The seeing left much to be desired. Mojo and I were each successful in our comet hunt, and we both found it...finally! Not too much to report, as the view was pretty dismal. But see it we did!

But our eyes soon turned eastward and we couldn't help but notice the change in Delta Scorpii, Dschubba. Significantly brighter than Beta and Pi Scorpius, it really stood out! We took out our star spectroscope to take a better look. First a look without the diffraction grating and lens, and then with. I saw several emission lines in the green and blue/purple sections of the spectrum - which I think were Magnesium and Helium. Some other stuff in the blue spectrum but it was very hard to see the contrast between dark blue and black lines in this area. Over in the red part of the spectrum I also saw a thin line - a hydrogen absorption line, perhaps. A quick look at Antares with the spectroscope was in order, then all was packed in, including yours truly. I'll take another look on the weekend at the spectrum under better conditions, hopefully.