Comet NEAT (C/2001 Q4)

by Bob Czerwinski

Following up on Friday night's activities, last night (Sat., May 8th, 9:10pm to 10:30pm PDT) I again observed Comet NEAT from my south San Jose driveway/street, but this time with my 14.5" Newt/Dob (107x/152x/202x) and TV101 (60x/135x) side-by-side. The seeing was still very good (7~8/10), but the transparency was definitely worse than last night (6/10) with a slight haze visible to the WNW. The comet's coma appeared much more even than last night, and the short tail was definitely less pronounced, both of which I suspect were a result of the transparency. I had trouble detecting the curve of the tail, too. The lower-magnification views were definitely the most pleasing, and it was fun just watching the comet pass a few stars. Observing Comet NEAT for well over an hour, I'd estimate that the comet was moving about 12- to 13-arcminutes/hour, definitely a fair clip. I didn't detect nearly as much color as I did last night, just suspecting a hint of aquamarine.

I hope others observing Comet NEAT weren't affected by the same western haze.

Posted on sf-bay-tac May 09, 2004 00:42:33 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.1 Jul 11, 2004 14:33:18 PT