Hi, anyone got a updated spotters guide of where to find this one. I was using my 10" Dob last night but I think I was looking in the wrong area. Thanks!!
Hey all!
I managed to view W1 last night from Walcha! It was very VERY windy here yesterday and last night it nearly blew me off the hill i was observing from.
I had to park the Hilux into the wind and either sit in the drivers seat and look through the windscreen at it with the bins or i opened the top half of the rear canopy doors and use the glass as a shield from the wind! Anyways...i got my obs in, i first spotted W1 @ 5:50pm EST and made my obs at 6:15pm!
m1= 4.2; Dia= 15'; DC= 5; 7x50 binoculars, no tail seen, moonlight affected naked eye viewing and i was unable to make it out naked eye being so close to the horizon as well!
W1 will set around 7pm tonight! It made closest approach to Earth yesterday and perihelion is not until the 23rd of June when it will be in the morning sky!
I did take some tripod pics last night through the rear canopy glass, it is a bit wobbly but it was blowing a gale!!!! I'll post a pic later today!
Went out last evening, but too light with twilight/moonlight, no sign of comet, even with binoculars. Canis Major was low on horizon - had views of Sirius and Beta ... Canis Major, and comet should have been below these in Lepus ........ but too light. Then they all sunk into the trees
Getting harder to see now as it sinks into the twilight. Still just OK in binocs but visually nothing like what it was a week or two ago.
Here's a shot from last night, late in twilight. Canon 400D on tripod, 15 sec at ISO 1600, F/5, 43mm in 18-55mm kit lens. Have included extra thumb showing position of comet, just a greenish dot.
Found it! My first comet found through my telescope. It was really hard with twilight and the moon but found a green dot in the eyepiece .... very very happy!!! Thanks for all the tips on this site!
Now i,m going out on a limb here so correct me, tommorow 16/06/08 is the last chance to observe this comet till it returns from behind the sun ( if it dont disintergrate ) in the early morning skys at a later date??.....cheers Kev.
Hi there Kevnool!
The comet won't disappear behind the sun to us but will be too close the sun along our line-of-sight as it passes between earth and the sun. The comet reached its closest approach to Earth on the 13th June, and will reach perihelion on the 23rd June. It will be moving away from us as we speak but during its perihelion passage it should be visible in our morning skies and well placed for observing. We probably wont get a good look at it until the morning of the 16th when it will rise around 5:05am. Astro twilight doesn't begin until about 5:28 am on the 16th. The moon will ruin things once again too!
There you will get an idea of the comets path in relation to Earths. The comet will probably not begin to show a nice tail until perihelion and after. So we should only lose it for 2 days at least due to the suns glare.
Hi all! Heres a couple of pics i took which i said i'd post!
These were taken under very windy conditions, in as much as i had to use the Hilux to shield the breeze, otherwise the camera and tripod would have nearly been blown over!
The first shot taken with the Canon 400D, 70mm @ f/4, 50 sec exp, ISO 1600
The 2nd shot was with the Canon 400D, 76mm, f/4, 15 seconds, ISO 1600...the reflections are that of the rear canopy window of the Hilux (flipped up) that i was using to shield the camera from the wind!
Found it! My first comet found through my telescope. It was really hard with twilight and the moon but found a green dot in the eyepiece .... very very happy!!! Thanks for all the tips on this site!
Hi rhisaac! Well done! It does take a while to find it! When you see more comets you'll begin to "see" what comets look like, it'll make those fainter ones a little easier to distinguish!
The first comet i ever saw was 1P/ Halley in 1986 and i'll never forget it!
I have been waiting for the clouds to piss off! Apparently the DC= 7 and mag around 4.2 from other observers.......bugger off you frickin cloud! Throw me a frickin bone!
I had observed the comet last week in the early hours but cloud ruined my obs for the last 5 days, one report from this morning was the comet seems to be fading, no tail visually, but its proximity to the moon is not helping matters.
Hopefully the next few mornings will be clear.
The comet reaches perihelion today, and it will be worth watching until it fades away!
The comet will rise around 4am approx. and should be visible at 5am higher in the ENE sky
