Comet McNaugt from Skyline and Hwy 92

by Albert Highe

There is lots of room to park near Skyline and Hwy 92 with a good view of the horizon. And, it is less than 20 minutes from home. I drove up there this evening, arriving about 5:10PM. A couple were already there, looking for the comet, and gave up early, leaving about 5:15PM. I didn't really know how low it was, but I remember reading David's Kingsley's OR posted on TAC a couple of days ago which said he didn't see it until later. Clouds along the horizon covered less than 2 degrees of sky.

I hunted for the comet with 10X50 binos. I hadn't seen anything by 5:23PM, and I was thinking I might have missed it. I decided to widen my search - I quickly found the comet about 7-8 degrees above the horizon - higher than I expected. Once I knew where to look, I could see it naked eye, including a tail at least a degree long. I watched alternatively with binos and naked eye until 5:35PM. It had started to enter some muck. Before then, I had a great view. The head was brilliant and the tail appeared forked. The top edge appeared longer than the bottom edge, but the bottom edge appeared a little brighter. A fainter fan bridged the two, but did not appear to extend as far as either edge.

I observed along a metal fence whose posts were just the right height to perch the binos at eye level. I had a very steady view. What a treat!

Albert

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