Hi all - there has been quite a bit of coverage in the media, among others because some of them know me. Many pictures published. Also, we had hundreds of people joining us on the beaches all over the Cape during the past few clear evenings and even people who are normally not at all interested in "looking up" have done so and are busily taking pictures. Rodstar, my sister and her husband are in the same category as your wife and they did not only come and look, but stayed for more than an hour and loved the experience.
Of course many (I guess the majority by some margin) still don't know and do not care. But we at our club have had some "I think I discovered a comet!" e-mails and calls and also a lot of people simply stopping by, looking at what we were looking at and then staying for a while and saying that they will also tell their friends & family to look.
BTW Netwolf, I
loved your thoughtful and well-written post!
Just wish I could send a "real personal look" of McNaught to some of my astro friends in the Northern Hemisphere. Many of them seem to think or assume that it has now faded and is no longer of interest (perhaps because they cannot see it themselves - understandable in a way). This is something that I wish all of the planet could see at its best (OK, possibly getting to be past its best although we don't really want to believe that yet...
)
BTW I see the information I fed into my planetarium program had it at mag 6 yesterday and 6.3 today. No ways! The brightness has definitely been underestimated. What do your projections tell you? (I use Skymap Pro)
Final word from me today: how do we do the right kind of cloud dance that will ensure a thick cloud in front of the moon for the next 10 days or so - while leaving the area around the comet clear of course? Anyone in NZ know the right Haka or something? For once this Springbok supporter will stomp & shout and dance along with you if it works - but just right, as ordered above...
Mind you ONLY in the right spot, nowhere else.
