FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Comet McNaught in the evening

[Steve Coe <stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Howdy all;

I just, and I do mean just, caught a quick look at Comet McNaught above the
sunset.  About 45 minutes after the ball of the Sun disappeared, I made the
observation below.  This is from Phoenix, I have a pretty flat western
horizon and there is a gentle climb to get to my house.

8X42 binoculars from my driveway, very faint, low contrast round glow just
seen in the evening twilight.  Not much from in town with the binoculars,
but there was a faint fuzz ball at the correct position "under" Altair.  It
has an altitude just less than Venus in the western sky.  

I don't know who said that this thing has a calculated magnitude of -4, but
it certainly was a lot fainter than Venus to my eye.

I hope someone else got a chance to see it;

Steve Coe

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