OR - Comet Ikeya-Zhang, Urban Astronomy and a nice hot cup o' tea

by Stacy Jo McDermott


Well, quite the interesting weekend weather-wise! Woke up Saturday to blusterly winds and thought, "hmm, ain't looking too good for a night out"...however I was way wrong.

Chose to stick close to home and ended up at the SFAA City Star party at Pt. Lobos - actually a fairly decent urban astro-observing place.

The highlight of the star party last night was - drum roll please - Comet Ikeya-Zhang. Showing up clearly through binoculars around 7.15 pm PST, I easily found it in my 80mm Short Tube. Was able to observe it for about 45 minutes before it dipped below the clouds.

For the next hour, we had pretty decent skies - steady seeing, good transparency and for an urban setting, dark-ish skies. Good turnout for the city star party.

Tonight, noticed that it was clearing and thought I'd attempt finding the comet with the 120mm. Glad I did - it is stunning. Yes, it was rather cold, but one of the amenities of the McDermott Observatory is the wonderful tea that is available, piping hot.

At 8.00 pm PST, Comet Ikeya-Zhang disappeared behind the neighbours' house - a sign to turn in and get ready for the work week and b-day # 10010.

Even with the cold, it was a lovely way to spend a couple of evenings.