Yes from Santa Cruz

by David Kingsley

James Turley, Marek Cichanski, and I decided to head someplace where we knew there would be great low horizons to the west. Sunset was beautiful from the Santa Cruz lighthouse point on Cliff Drive. Fantastic overlook of surfers riding huge waves before sunset. We watched the sun go down to the sounds of vibrant drums and music from the beach. Venus appeared, at first with no sign of comet McNaught. Marek called out that he had it in binoculars about 5:30 pm, and James and I picked it up shortly thereafter. (A distant sea bird appeared at a useful moment, providing a useful orientation mark of against a sky with precious few landmarks other than venus). Comet McNaught had a bright small head with obvious fan shaped tail extending a half a degree or more. It definitely looked like a comet, and was surprisingly bright considering it was viewed against a still very light twilight sky. We followed Comet McNaught with binoculars, a Canon lens on a monopod, and a Televue Ranger for about 15 minutes, losing it in the very low horizon muck between 5:45 and 5:50pm. Finished with a view of Santa Cruz wharf, distant Fremont Peak, and the Pleides, with the Pacific Ocean stretching around us for nearly 270 degrees on the small point around the lighthouse. A short but memorable observing session on the California coast!

--David Kingsley