[AZ-Observing] Re: An 80 degree day?/Comet Tempel

I was out visually observing tonight between 10 - 11 PM MST trying to 
find comet Tempel. The sky was fairly dark and clear on the west side 
of Phoenix. Much better than a few nights ago.In fact better than I 
have seen it n a long time.  I know I was looking right at the comet, 
but could not see it. I tried a 40mm eyepiece with my C-8 plus a 6.3 
focal reducer and Orion Sky Glow filter. I also tried various 
combinations and without anything other than the eyepiece. I also 
tried a 28 mm eyepiece. No luck. Just dark sky with some faint stars.

To give a comparison of the sky, M57, while nearly directly overhead, 
was actually bright. Unless the comet brightens significantly, I do 
not think it will be seen from the Phoenix area. I believe true dark 
skies wil be needed to see anything of the deep impact event Sunday 
night.

Jeff

At 22:55 -0700 6/28/05, Brian Skiff wrote:
>      It was 110F this afternoon at a couple of places in Arizona.
>Following the passage of the latest Pacific trough this afternoon,
>nothern Arizona (at least) has become very dry and calm.  It wouldn't
>be too surprising for some high-elevation sites to reach 30F by morning,
>making for an 80-degree difference across the state.  The Flagstaff NWS
>office at 10.30p is already at 45F with dewpoint of 8F.
>      Along with the dry air, it is also especially transparent for the
>last few days of June, so from Anderson Mesa tonight the sky is spectacular.
>Considering that around midday we were getting gassed out big-time by smoke
>from the Cave Creek fire, this is a welcome change today.
>
>\Brian

-- 
Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
Hopkins Phoenix Observatory
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html

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