[AZ-Observing] McNaught Fading
- From: BillFerris@xxxxxxx
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:28:16 EST
I just made another binocular observation of comet McNaught from my front
driveway. I was out between 1:46 and 1:52pm MST (15 Jan, 20:46 to 20:52 UT) and
McNaught was held with some effort in the 10x50's. The stellar head has faded
even more from Sunday afternoon.
Saturday (13 Jan, 19:15 to 19:50 UT) from a site about 20 miles west of
Flagstaff, McNaught was obvious and easy in the 10x50's, and fairly obvious to
the naked eye. With the comet at an angular distance of 5.5 degrees from the
Sun, even the brightest ~15' of the tail was visible to the unaided eye.
By Sunday afternoon (14 Jan, 18:55 to 18:58 UT; 23:32 to 23:42 UT; and 15
Jan, 00:25 to 00:58 UT) with the comet about 6 degrees from the Sun, the head
had faded enough (at least a magnitude would be my best guess) to be
challenging to the unaided eye.
This afternoon with the comet at an angular distance of about 8 degree from
the Sun, McNaught requires some concentration to hold consistently in the
10x50's. The inner coma appears just faintly stellar and the tail is quite
delicate in the binocs. I was not able to make a naked eye detection.
The sky above Flagstaff is very transparent, today. We are experiencing
gusty winds so, the seeing may be mediocre at best.
Bill in Flag
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