The view from Mt Ridley was superb to say the least!!!..first appearence was at 9.17pm..a lot brighter than expected..quite a few cars pulled up to see...using a 40mm EP on my 10" F4.9 dob showed the head to be quite bright with the structure of the tails akin to a satin veil..beautiful!!!
At 9.30 it looked awesome..so hopefully tomorrow a chance to view from another site should be rewarding.
Cheers!
P.S.Great photo eric!!
Just got back from Brighton Beach - had been there since sunset - WOW! What a sight. How about the tail on that thing It was great to finally see it - been waiting all week for the weather to clear.
Tomorrow I think I'll head home to Daylesford and see this in dark skies to see how it looks.
Yes Virginia, there is a comet! For a while there, I thought the Perth boys were just making it up. Simply stunning.
That was the strangest thing to see in the night sky. It's looks somewhat fake. Like when I first saw Saturn through a scope and thought, that can't be real.
Went to the beach to see it. I felt like John Dobson with people walking past and me saying, did you see the comet? Every person was, oooh wow look at that. Except for one guy that was walking past with his head down and I say, did you see the comet as I point to it and he says, "oh yeah", puts his head back down and keeps walking... That guy is really hard to impress!!!
Took the scope to a hilltop in the outer east with my partner and a mate and drew a crowd before we'd finished setting up (though one noo-nah only wanted to tell us not to park on the nature strip).
The sun going down, waiting, scanning, waiting, scanning, then 'hello', my first real comet. Truely beautiful.
Mate Brett got some shots - will post them if it's OK with him.
Me, Cheryl and my boys and daughter, one of the guys from work with his wife and his 80 year old Dad (first time in his life he has seen thru a telescope!)
We were all Blown Away!!!!!! Incredible!
Even if I never see it again it has burnt itself into my memory forever!
Photos don't compare with standing out there looking at it. We also checked it out in the 12", the ED80, 2 pair of Knockies, and a small refractor.
I took a heap of pics but only one worked and it is terrible, so I'll just ogle everyone elses pics
The best Astronomical Phenomenon I have ever seen!!! Man, I'm excited
I also just got back from Brighton beach and happened to bump into Trevor (one of one) and his lovely wife Catherine (spelling?) and had a great night and with all the excitement locked the keys in the car DOHHHHH!!!!!!! But it didnt matter because I SEEN THE COMET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES IT"S ACTUALY REAL!!!!! and what a sight! It was unbeleiveable!! I've taken some pics so i'll go through them and post them with the rest i suppose.
I drove a bit out of town to my usual semi-dark haunt with my 10" and two pair of binos, and in the end the best optical aid was the old mark 1 eyeball
By about 10pm the sky had darkened enough to see a bit more of the tail as shown in Ezys photo above.
I had seen a few other comets, but this one looked better naked eye than any of the others looked through a scope or with binos.
Just back from McNaughting and bit of DSO observing down on Lang Lang beach. Wow! My first ever comet too!! It is huge! Naked eye tail 15-20 degrees long with breakups visible! And I was worried I won't be able to find it.
Danielsun and I set up originally just south of the park at the end of North Rd in Brighton, but the foreshore lights were a big pain so I wandered further north and found a large grassed area 20 metres further north. It was great because the trees allowed you to block out the lights completely and get the best view of the comet. My wife, Kathryn, thought it was exciting and had a great time explaining to everyone some of the details (she loves having a handful of buzzwords!)
So, astrocoast and EzyStyles or anyone else at Brighton where were you? Did you find a spot without those annoying lights too? When we were leaving around 10:30 there was a large group of people in the carpark, was that another bunch of IceInSpacers? I noticed a couple of people had tripods.
I will be there again tonight from about 8:30 - 9:00 until around 10:30 or so weather permitting. I have mentioned it to a few people from work who live nearby, plus my wife was going to mention it to several of her nearby friends as well....so it may have enough people to have a mini IceInSpace camp!
WOW! I finally saw it. I went to Brighton Beach, and those light were definitely annoying. So instead of staying near the foreshore ended up stayed with the car in the carpark, so we were a bit behind the lights. I dragged my mum and brother along, I told them "you can't miss this!" And we were sitting in the car with it pointing south-west. My mum and I both spotted it at the same time, started yelling "There it is!" and jumped out of the car quicker than thought possile.
I am now vey glad to say I have seen my first comet. And what a beauty!
If tonight is clear again, I was thinking of heading up to a lookout I know in the Dandenong Ranges that should have a pretty clear view to the south west. I haven't been there for awhile, so I might go and check it out today, just in case I'm wrong.
I'm going for another view tonight also..but I might try a double-whammy...view McNaught and do a little DSO from a spot I know just outside the Kalkallo Cemetery..
Hey OneofOne
was south of the car park on the grassy areas - I moved about 3 times becuase of the lights. First time I was at the first seated area, but there is al ight right there, so moved back to the grasss area - then moved further south and used some trees to shield some light.
Even with the annoying lighting - it was a spectacular sight.
Not sure which group in the car park you were mentioning, but as I went back to my car, with tripod over my shoulder, I did see a group, but they were just a bunch of kids hangin' around.
Anyway, am hoping to get there again tonight - weather permitting, and right now it's looking like there's a bit of cloud cover. Let's see how we go - i could do with a double whammy of McNaught - and no, I don't want fries with that
But it didnt matter because I SEEN THE COMET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES IT"S ACTUALY REAL!!!!! and what a sight! It was unbeleiveable!! 
I've taken some pics so i'll go through them and post them with the rest i suppose.
WOW! 
Let's see how we go - i could do with a double whammy of McNaught - and no, I don't want fries with that 
