schwassmann wachman 3

[KISA]

Hi All,

I've been recently trying to find the Schwassmann Wachman 3 comet without any luck L. It is currently supposed to be located in the Cetus constellation of which Diphda is the brightest (I think)

So up I get at 5 this morning (about -2) trying to find Cetus. I am viewing from my backyard in Canberra so viewing isn't the best, but I managed to find Pegasus without too much problem and off to the right of that just above the horizon I found what I believe to be the Pleiades, the brightest thing in the sky that time of morning.

So with those two references, off I searched, by eye and finderscope to find SW3. After an hour and a half, to my frustration I could not for the life of me find what I was confident to be Cetus, specifically Diphda.

As you can tell I am very new to star jumping my way across the sky and determining exactly how far things are apart.

The star maps I am using are the ones in the Astronomy 2006 Australia I got from the IIS star party at Lostock and also from:-

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Yoursky?z=1&lat=35.2833&ns=South&lon=149.217&ew=East

With the online star map I tried both the horizon view and the sky map view. Including varying the star intensities visible to try to match what I could actually see with the naked eye, still without luck.

If anyone could please give me some idea of where I should be looking (straight up, etc) or techniques to use that would be great. I don't have a planisphere yet but am intending to get one soon.

Thanks,

KISA

[[1ponders]]

Hi KISA

They are getting very faint atm so it will be a challenge especially with the full moon and the lights of Canberra, but good luck with it.

If you have a look at the image you will see I circled 4 stars in a straight line. I find these stars are the easiest guide to finding the comets. At 5 am they are 45-50 deg above the horizon and just north of east. If you follow them down the comets will be about the width of your fist below the bottom star and a little bit to the north.

Hope that helps and good luck.

CS

[KISA]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the reply and help. I'll give it a go tomorrow morning and let you know the outcome.

Thanks again,

KISA