McNaught from Emeryville: Snow and the cheap binos
by Bill Cone
I didn't expect to be seeing this one again. Thanks to Leonard for
the inspirational post. I just went out into the parking lot, grabbed
the Sears Cyclops (they are so mis-collimated that I only use my
right eye), sat on a walkway in the shadow of the building and
scanned about. Snow is everwhere. Looks like the advent of Spring,
with seeds floating through the air, like the opening scene in Fellini's
'Amarcord', but I digress. McNaught popped right out after a bit.
Nice bright coma, and some of the tail visible. Looks great. I could
not see it naked eye, and that is clearly the fault of my eyes. The
other night, I took off my glasses at dusk, and found I could not see
Venus without them. My eyes are lousy, but seeing McNaught again was
a nice way to end a good lunch.
Tips on viewing: I sat in the shadow of a building and scanned in the
9-12:00 area, while the sun was a few degrees below the edge of the
roof. Somewhere between 5-10 degrees from the sun, about the 10:30
position, I would say.