FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Comet Sighting by Kieth

[Stan Gorodenski <stan_gorodenski@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Raul Espizona received ths message from Kieth Parizek and wanted it 
circulated to the clubs. I do not have access to all the clubs, but felt 
posting this in Az-Observing would do just as well. If any of you are 
club officers and think it would be beneficial to post it in your club 
discussion group, please do so.
Stan

"Monday night I got a look at this comet from my deck using 20x110 
binos.  It looked great with a bright nucleus and short tail .  I found 
this first about 30 minutes after sunset, about (?) degrees above the 
horizon and 15 or so degrees north of the sunset point.  This 
observation was made in middle to late twilight and the reticule and far 
away power lines visible in the binos were distracting to look thru.  
I have never seen a comet this bright so low on the horizon.  My guess 
is that it is must be at least -2 magnitude.  I hope you can alert 
the soiety of the possibility of this object becoming visible in 
daylight in a few days.  I was the first to spot Comet Ikeya-Seki in 
broad noontime daylight in 1965 from Phoenix.  I often said that I bet I 
would never get a chance to see another, but McNaught strikes me as 
being a good candidate.  I hope that you can alert PAS to be on the 
lookout for a possible daylight comet.  I hope some of the guys at JPL 
can do a numbers job on the comet and give us a good heads up on the 
best circumstances to observe it close to the sun.  I still cannot 
believe how good this looked considering that I am at Rio Verde looking 
thru the Scottsdale, Phoenix, and West valley light domes and associated 
smog.
Regards
Keith Parizek"
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