Comet 2001 Q4 NEAT

by Dennis Beckley


Comet 2001 Q4 NEAT has finally escaped the Southern Skies and is now visable in the Bay Area. I spotted it with my 10 X 70 binoculars for the first time this evening around 8:30 low in Canis Major. It was easy to find since it was conveniently parked just to the west of bright delta CMA (Wezen).

It is fairly condensed with just a hint of a tail. It's listed at Mag 3-4 but I couldn't see it through my light polluted suburban neighborhood naked eye. It's moving fast - rising about 5 degrees per day and in two nights will be close to M46/M47. Moonlight should become less and less of a factor but better check it out soon as increasing clouds are predicted towards the weekend.


Posted on sf-bay-tac May 04, 2004 23:50:34 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.1 Jul 11, 2004 09:16:33 PT