[BRAC] Re: The Approaching Comet

From: "james poling" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("jnpoling")
To: Bill Steiner <acogbilly@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2023 11:51:50 -0500

The moon goes down at 4:45am on Feb 1, so you might be able to see the comet between 5 and 6 am that morning. The following is from the Astronomy Club of Asheville. Look to the northern sky toward Polaris and look for a faint smudge. You may be able to see the comet with binoculars and photograph the comet with long-exposures and photo-stacking.

James Poling624 Azalea Avenue
Black Mountain, NC 28711 USAjnpoling@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.facebook.com/james.poling.7 828-707-7413

On Jan 25, 2023, at 10:44 AM, Bill steiner <acogbilly@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We have a nice green comet that is making its closest approach to Earth in the next two weeks.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is currently making its way through the northern skies and should reach its brightest magnitude in early February, according to In-The-Sky.org(opens in new tab) as it approaches perigee on Feb. 1. To see the comet for yourself, look to the north just after sunset and look for a faint greenish glow. Under the right dark sky conditions, the comet could be visible to the unaided eye, but binoculars will certainly make the job easier.

Bad weather in Asheville for the next 2-3 days and then the moon messes things up until Feb 6.   You could still see it before, but it won't be much.
On Feb 6, the sun sets at 6 and the moon rises at 7. So from about 6:30 until 7, you should be able to see it well.

On Feb 7, the sun sets at 6 and the moon rises at 8. So you got an hour and a half between 6:30 and 8.    After that, the moon rises an hour later each night so more viewing time.
BUT. After Feb 7, the comet is moving well past earth and it will begin to get more dim.

So. The last and best shot is February 6 and 7.

A dark sky will help much.   Peg and I are gonna scout out Cane River Park near Burnsville some time this week. We'll get up there late and see how many street lights are present.

more than you ever wanted to know. Pedantic Bill

References:
- [BRAC] The Approaching Comet
  - From: Bill steiner

[BRAC] Re: The Approaching Comet

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