[AZ-Observing] Saturday Night Comet Fever
- From: BillFerris@xxxxxxx
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 17:30:34 EDT
Several members of the Coconino Astronomical Society gathered at the Doney
Mountain Picnic Area, last night. Myself, Zach and Peter Schierl, and Kris
Naylor made the trip. Comet NEAT continues to put on an impressive display,
having
taken the show on the road from Cancer to Lynx. It's still a naked eye object,
though dimmer and competing with a waxing Moon. Comet LINEAR escaped
detection. We hiked about a 100-meters down a trail to a slightly elevated site
with a
clear view of the southwest horizon. By the time Sirius set--about
8:05pm--the sky was still quite bright and LINEAR well below the horizon. After
the end
of astronomical twilight, I returned to this location to scan the horizon for
LINEAR's tail but was skunked. In another two or three days, LINEAR should
have moved far enough north that it will be 10º above the horizon at 8:30pm.
But
there will be a 1st quarter Moon to contend with. I'm not holding my breath on
this one.
Later, I observed a couple of galaxies in Virgo, NGC 4526 and NGC 4535. The
sketches and notes should be up on my website in a day or so. Zach Schierl used
his 10-inch Orion Dobsonian to locate Ceres. Kris Naylor observed several
fine Messier globulars with her 8-inch Newtonian.
The wind, which had been blustery most of the afternoon, calmed quite a bit
after sunset and that made for very comfortable conditions. I was the last to
leave, packing up and heading out at midnight.
Regards,
Bill in Flagstaff
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