[AZ-Observing] Re: McNaught: Still Naked Eye From Flagstaff, AZ
- From: Jeremy Perez <jeremy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:15:04 -0700
Great reports everyone. And very nice shots Tom. Randy, I wasn't able
to view yours...msn says it's too busy :-/
I wish I had been able to catch it yesterday, but just wasn't in a
position to. Today, I drove a few miles to the west side of Flagstaff
to get out of the shadow of an hours-old standing wave cloud hovering
over the east side of town. At 3:50 pm, I was able to set up my 10x50
binoculars on a tripod in the shadow of a park ramada and finally
picked up the comet. The soft, white coma was amazingly bright in the
mid-afternoon sky, and I estimated seeing about 10 arc-minutes of the
broad tail breezing away to the east in a 100 degree wide cone. I was
happy to be able to share the sight with a passerby who saw it
easily. With foreground landmarks for perspective, I was also able to
see the comet naked eye with a bit of difficulty--something I'm very
pleased that this comet allowed me to accomplish.
When I got home, that pesky cloud was gone, and I was able to set up
my 6" newtonian. I attached a solar filter, centered on the Sun, then
slewed 5.5 degrees east and 2.5 degrees south. Removing the filter,
and taking care not to bump the scope, I was able to view, sketch,
and photograph the comet for the next twenty minutes before it
dropped behind the neighboring houses. I'll get the sketches and
photos posted and linked soon.
Jeremy
Flagstaff, AZ
http://beltofvenus.perezmedia.net
On Jan 14, 2007, at 4:50 PM, BillFerris@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Well, the skies are much better, now. Between 4:33 pm and 4:42 pm, I
> observed the comet from the driveway of my house. Positioning the
> Sun behind the
> south eave, I found the comet first in my 10x50's.
> Comet McNaught was about 12 degrees above the horizon and separated
> from the
> Sun by about 6 degrees. It hung conveniently above the top of a
> pine tree
> and I was able to make intermittent naked eye detections of the
> comet. It is
> not nearly as obvious in the binoculars or to the naked eye as it
> was during my
> Saturday afternoon observation.
>
> Bill in Flag
>
> In a message dated 1/14/2007 3:53:40 PM US Mountain Standard Time,
> BillFerris@xxxxxxx writes:
>
> This afternoon just before 1:00 pm, I took advantage of a break in
> the
> clouds to stand in my driveway and make a quick observation of comet
> McNaught. As
> with yesterday's observation, I first located the comet in my
> 10x50's, then
> made a naked eye observation. The comet was not as bright or
> detailed as on
> Saturday. However, the sky was not as transparent today as on
> Saturday,
> either.
> Unfortunately, the skies over Flagstaff have been partly to mostly
> cloudy,
> since, and I've not been able to follow up with additional
> observations.
>
> Bill in Flag
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
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> send personal replies to the author, not the list.
>
>
>
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