by Jim Van Nuland
I ran this 4.25 inch f/4 at 20x, and located the comet very easily using setting circles. It was bright and obvious, and though it was not circular, I could not definitely say I was seeing any tail. It's been since 1975, but at last Don has a comet that can be readily seen.
About 10 pm, it was at roughly the same elevation as the Pleiades, and about 15 degrees north. I quickly swept it up with a 7x50 binocular, but the view did not last, as the eyepieces immediately fogged over due to moisture from my eyes. I suppose the 100% humidity contributed, too.
I took time to say hello to a few old friends: the Hyades, Pleiades, M42, Saturn (the new (to me) 8mm RKE didn't show Cassini's division at 55x, but a 6.6 did intermittently). The Double Cluster was also nice. bit NGC457 (E.T. or Owl) was to faint to enjoy.
I swung around to M41. This is not a spectacular object, but is bright enough to look nice in the city with this scope. It's a personal favorite, as it's the first object I located using co-ordinates, back in 1972.
I packed up early. Glad to learn that the stars are still there, after all this water. The news in the midwest is suggesting that California is about to slide into the ocean. To borrow from Mark Twain, the reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated.
Clear Skies!
Posted on sf-bay-tac Jan 13, 2005 01:45:50 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 27, 2005 20:54:15 PT