[AZ-Observing] Re: Comet Machholz near the Pleiades
- From: "Rotramel, Rick (AZ77)" <rick.rotramel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 09:17:39 -0700
All,
I took a peek last night too, with the 11x80's and with fast moving clouds
going by the area of the Pleiades about 9:30 PM. The comet looks a sparkly
bright snowball with hints of tails from a location in the middle of the
Phoenix light dome.
It does show up naked eye using averted vision. The view in the binos gave
an impression that it was maybe a tad brighter than last years' Comet NEAT.
A site on the net says C. Machholz is about Mag 3.7 these days.
I found some recent photos at this link:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/05jan_machholz.htm
Rick R.
SAC
-----Original Message-----
Howdy all;
I just took a quick look at Comet Machholz near the Pleiades. I can see
the comet, just barely, with the naked eye from my backyard near 7th
Street and Thunderbird in Phoenix. I can see 6 stars of the cluster and
the comet is more easily seen with averted vision, so when I look at the
Pleiades, the comet stands out nicely. Seeing as how I can't see the
Andromeda galaxy from my backyard, I will guess that the comet's overall
magnitude is 3 to 3.5.
Using a pair of 8X42 binoculars provides a very nice view. The comet
shows a nice bright center and it is a bit greenish, even in this poor a
viewing situation. I look forward to some photographs of this nice
comet and I hope to take a few of my own this weekend. We shall see.
Clear Skies to us all;
Steve Coe
--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please
send personal replies to the author, not the list.
Other related posts:
