Quote:
Originally Posted by ngcles
I had been observing NGC 5189 about an hour and a half earlier and it was only 1 field away ...
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Hi Les,
Thanks for the anecdote. That certainly is a Mintie's Moment. However,
I believe Lach's story is even worse because he even
looked
at Comet Lee
one full week before Steve looked at it.
If you all gather around, I will tell you the story ...
Once upon at time, Lachlan was up at the house at Wiruna attempting to
show some visiting Americans the Blue Planetary using Tony's 20". They
did not have a DSC/DTC installed then and in stumbling around the
Crux/Centaurus region, Lachlan happened across what later was determined
to be the comet. He apparently puzzled over it for a moment, but feeling
the pressure to help entertain his guests and deliver a view of the Blue
Planetary, decided to move on, possibly with the plan of checking on a
chart later what the unexpected nebulosity was. However, he failed to
follow up. So that boys and girls is why we call it Comet Lee and not
Comet MacDonald.
When Rob Greaves radio call came from the house the other night, the same
place that Lach had passed over Comet Lee even having spotted it first, Lach's
lesson was planted firmly in my head and I was as determined as Rob to follow
this one up.
Les, thanks again for the story and hopefully there is one still out there yet
waiting to have your name tagged to it.
Best Regards
Gary