Glad your getting the good skies Kearn
Northern Australia is a no go zone for astronomy ATM
I think i will have to wait till IIS Astrocamp to see it on Thursday
Ian, that might be the last good skies we have till sunday?? hope not - if thats any consolation
ps send some of that rain down mate (if ya getting 'em)
you know what really freaks me out - is that we are observing naked eye daylight ect .ect. and imaging a comet - WHILE IT IS STILL IN THE FOV OF SOHO C3!!!!! whoa!
Excellent reports everyone, it's great reading the various experiences.
As Rod said, I took my family to the Entrance last night, and met up with Rod and his kids. I went further north than the previous night, which gave me a better view across the lake and made the mountains a little more distant.
At first, clouds sat RIGHT ON TOP of where I was expecting the comet to be. Couldn't spot it until the sun had set, and then BAM it stood out very bright just above the cloud. Once I knew where it was, it was very easy to spot naked eye.
I helped a few other onlookers find it, and we all had views through the 11x70 binos and thru Rod's ED80.
It was MUCH brighter than the night before, with the 45° fan-like tail spreading out. Through the ED80, the core was very stellar-like, nice and bright. The best view through the ED80 was with the 22-pan. Being so close to the horizon, the 7 and 12mm orthos just had too much atmospheric dispertion.
Naked eye I'd estimate to be about mag -3. When Venus was visible at the same time, I felt Venus was definitely brighter. But it could've felt that way due to Venus being higher and in "darker" skies.
The wife and kids were impressed - hopefully the view will get even better in the coming days.
Mark and Greg raise interesting points about the media emplasising the comet too early in the week. Last night the comet was only 7.5 degrees from the sun, its amazing the general public could see the comet at all!
Looking at Comet West, a similiar very spectacular comet from 1976, only very experienced observers were reporting that comet so close to the sun. In fact it wasn't until Comet West got to 15 degrees from the sun that the extent of the tail STARTED to become apparent. This situation doesn't occur for Comet McNaught until Thursday evening.
I am guessing the best views will come just before the moon starts to interfere early next week. For example Comet McNaught will have a similiar aspect then to Comet West on March 7, 1976, when Gil Wood described it as follows (as published in the May, 1976, of Sky and Telescope):
"Negotiating the last few winding turns near the last few winding turns near the summit, I glanced out the car window and there it was: Comet West, a fantastic fountain of light, flickering plainly through passing groves of trees. The head of the comet was too low to be seen over the embankment around the parking lot on the mountaintop, but the tail fanned out over the Cygnus Milky Way."
"I drove back down the mountain to find a suitable lookout point and got out of the car. In my 11 x 80 binoculars, the nucleus of the comet burned with the yellow brilliance of Venus inside the bluewhite spray of coma....etc"
Maybe Comet McNaught will not end up being as impressive as Comet West, but there is some chance it will.
Just wanted to say you have an excellent place going here.
I managed to see McNaught naked eye last night over Table Bay after battling clouds for a few evenings. Tonight not even a glimpse through the clouds.
It really is quite something - I am a bit like a kid about this one.
I was wondering - had a look through the impressive array of pictures that some of you have been taking. Did anyone manage to capture Mercury with the comet last night when they were so close together (14 Jan)? My little gap in the cloud was small and of short duration and I did not take a picture. Besides, do not have sophisticated enough equipment to have taken something that could have captured the much fainter dot of the planet too.
Just signed up today after a friend told me the McNaught was due.
Got a scope for Xmas.. nothing fancy, but looking forward to taking it to Maslin Beach tomorrow night...... did see comet for a while with binocs ... between trees from our backyard in McLaren Vale.
Hoping for clear skies tomorrow... group of friends going to beach for fish & chips and great sunset.......
Welcome to IceInSpace. Be careful where you point the telescope down at Maslin's Beach. People might think you are looking at 'other' things.
Naked eye I'd estimate to be about mag -3. When Venus was visible at the same time, I felt Venus was definitely brighter. But it could've felt that way due to Venus being higher and in "darker" skies.
I thought it was brighter than Venus, for that reason - Venus was much higher - difficult to tell though under those conditions - is Venus normally naked eye visible at 1 deg altitude though?
Managed to see the comet last night (15th) just after sunset in my suburban back yard in Adelaide and looking across the city (eastern suburb). It was about inline with the set sun in direction and low in the sky. Found it with 7X50 binos first then as the skies darkened more, was easily able to see it with the naked eye. As others reported, bright nucleus and wide tail, and beautiful to look at. Had the wife and kids all interested and looking for some time. Great view with 20X90 binos. We were really happy to get a look at this beautiful comet. Hopefully things will imrove over the next few days,
Cheers
Once again the event was clouded out in Brisbane last night (15th)
Went out again at 7:30pm after the comet had sank below the horizon and the cloud was beginning to break up. Could only manage a quick snap of Venus before it too disappeared again into the murk.
Called my Dad in Adelaide to see if it was clear there and told him to go out and have a look. He called back later to say he had seen it and managed to snap off a couple of pics. Oh well, at least someone in the family has seen it I guess.
Later in the night at 10pm it was as clear as anything here in Brisbane, so I did some Saturn imaging instead.
hey did anyone else see the 2 trails from the comet? i.e. it's tail appeared to me through my bino's as 2 seperate streams close together - my wife also noticed this, and our neighbours 9yr old did as well.
i just havent seen anyone mention it. Using 7x50's here.
I observed the comet last night, with my wife, from a high vantage point at Peats Ridge on the NSW Central Coast. Andrew Catsaitis (Rocket Boy) and some of his kids were also at the same vantage point by coincidence. I had 2 binoculars with me, 16x60's and 10x42's. We observed the comet for a little over 1/2 an hour through broken patchy cloud before it disappeared into the smoke haze sitting on the horizon.
I estimated the tail to be about 1.3 degrees through both binoculars. I also noted that the tail "appeared" to be splitting slightly but I think this was an illusion caused by the forward scattering of sunlight causing the coma and edges of the tail to brighten more than the centre section of the tail.
Just come in from a pleasant hour of viewing 2006 P1. I used the latest Comet Elements in Star Atlas Pro, Synced the Gemini system on Antares then went to the comet, was in the center of the eyepiece.
The center was very starlike and was surrounded by what appeared as a faint coma, I was unable to pick any sort of tail, stood out surprisingly well against the sky.
Conditions were not the greatest, we still have a heavy smoke haze over the area, although, I think it may have helped as a natural filter.
Equipment: Takahashi FS-102, G-11 with Gemini, 30mm Celestron Ultima eyepiece, barlowed 2x.
mag-bleedin-nificent view last night (posted crumby pic). went up teh top of teh hill to where the local bushland, farms and nursing home are for unobstructed views.... stood out like a sore thumb. so glad i took the walk (couple hundred meters to mooing cows), it was a great sight
Well, I'm out of the comfy chair now. 20 minutes scanning and I've had to give up - no more time available. Don't know why I'm not spotting it. Smoke haze is not good, but not shocking. Dandelions - 20, Comets - nil. Well, back to sunset, if the smoke clears and storms don't arrive first. This is madness!
I've had no luck during the noon time with 10x50 binocs for the past few days. I've needed to use the 25x100 monsters to see P1 during the day. And it is fading. Smoke of any amount is a killer for smaller apertures.
- if thats any consolation 
