The comet is visual!

by Rob Hawley

I have been checking the skies just about every night since Christmas hoping for a look at the comet (at least when I could not hear rain). The skies were clear in Almaden early on New Year's day, but somehow I did not feel very motivated to get a scope out ;-).

Early tonight it looked like a repeat, but the comet was not going to be in a favorable location until 9 PM so I went back inside. At 9 I came out to a mostly clear sky.

I did not see it at first since my eyes were not dark adapted. I set up my 120ST on the back deck and then went back into the garage to get a finder.

I could easily see the comet in a 9x50 finder. Once I knew where it was (and had better dark adapted) I could see it visually as well. In a darker site it must really stand out.

I looked for about 45 minutes at 43x. The comet is very bright in the scope. It shows a definite bright head and is flattened toward the SW. A couple of times I thought I saw a hint of tail to the NE, but I could not be sure.

If I can get a night without rain in the forecast then I will either try looking at it in one of the bigger scopes or try to get a picture.

Posted on sf-bay-tac Jan 04, 2005 22:57:15 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 25, 2005 19:33:55 PT