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Thanks to Chris, Andrew, Steve and Kearn for today's images. They all confirm the note I sent to John Drummond today regarding his image from Gisborne, N.Z. I felt the tail went just beyond Beta Centauri on his pic compared to one he had taken the day before. On that basis I plotted the comet's tail on Megastar to compute a length of 24.7, say 25 degrees.
This confirms the tail is shortening at a rate somewhat comparable to it's growth rate earlier this week. I managed to see part of the tail, the ten degrees below Alpha Cen, through thickening haze at 2.30 a.m. this morning. I was surprised at how bright that piece was. Due to the haze and the proximity, no pun intended, of The Pointers, it was too hard to tell by eye if the tail carried on. Looks like Kearn had the perfect conditions.
Colin, thanks verymuch for your kind thoughts. It has been an absolute pleasure to view all of your fine efforts to record this event for posterity. That goes for all of the excellent contributions to this forum over the past ten days. The story isn't over yet. We have until atleast next Friday morning before the Big White Lady starts taking over the entire stage for a few days.
Thinking about it, has there ever been a period where the best part of a Great Comet's apparition coincided so perfectly with the waxing and waning of the Moon? A good part of McNaught's display was lost to Moonlight at the wrong time. Perhaps Hyakutake fits the bill as much as Terry's latest as far as that is concerned?t certainly has helped not having to account for Selene!
Cheers
Coops
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