by Craig A. Lambert
With last nights clear sky I was finally able to observe comet Ikeya-Zhang. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprized at the view I had through 8X56 binocs. The comet was easy to locate in the western sky even before the end of evening twilight, and by the end of twilight it was on the threshold of naked eye visibility from my light polluted skys in Pleasant Hill.
The blue color of this comet is really something! It reminds me of Hyakutake. I would estimate the current magnitude at a bit under 4th magnitude, with a tail of about 3 degrees. For those who havn't had the opportunity to see it yet, It's well worth it. (even from a light polluted neighborhood).
I hope we have clear skys one night this weekend, as I'd like to capture this on film with a piggy-backed telephoto lens. I think the tail would appear a good deal longer on film due to the color. Hope everyone gets a chance to see this.