Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjnettie
Don't forget the spare batteries Dennis.
|
Thanks jjj! I recharged the batteries before going up the hill again last night, Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane that is, and we had some wonderful views of the comet. (Thursday 18th Jan). Thick, dark and at times menacing clouds, played hide and seek with us, but towards dusk they relented to reveal slender strips of blue skies, sandwiched between thinning layers of gloomy grey clouds.
There were throngs of tourists, of all nationalities, as well as a couple of other strangers with small telescopes, so we had quite a gathering for this special event. I had a print out from Starry Night Pro and my compass, so I was the first to pick up Venus, followed a few minutes later by the comet, in the WO 7x50 finder. The news of these sightings brought out the binocular brigade! I have never seen so many instruments appear so suddenly and point so swiftly and synchronously in the same direction – it was quite comical.
I was using the WO 80mm f7 with a Hyperion 21mm eyepiece on a photo tripod with a geared head that allows a crude form of slow mo movement. I had intended to take the WO refractor off the tripod and fit the Pentax DSLR to take some photos, but decided to invite the public to see this rare (for them) event instead. So, although I had freshly charged batteries, there were too many (happy and grateful) customers at the eyepiece – I didn’t want to spoil their enjoyment, nor curtail the excited ooohh’s and aaahh’s in several languages that were floating around the hill!
Anyhow, we all had a great time and it was so nice to see how grateful the public were after looking through the WO 80mm. I was astonished at how consistent people were at saying “thank you”. Those parents that had a peek along with their children, all, without fail, prompted their children to say “thank you” – it seems good manners are alive on the hill when there is a comet and a ‘scope.
I found the naked eye view more pleasing than the telescopic view. The wide open skies and darkening hues of twilight, criss-crossed by tenuous streamers of thin cloud, with the comet standing proudly on end, tail commandingly stretching heavenwards with a fiercely bright nucleus challenging the gossamer thin clouds was just something quite special to drink in with both eyes; the senses not constrained by crouching, instruments or a small field of view.
Through the WO 80mm the tail had a definite fork in it me thinks. Has anyone else seen this?
I later recounted to my wife how I was granted something akin a god-like status by some members of the public, just by having the ‘scope, a printed chart and being able to point out and identify Venus and name the comet. Wow – if only life were that easy!
Cheers
Dennis
please upgrade your comet club member status to 'black belt' 
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
Mackay has it's own personal cloud that will not go away. It's all the aliens fault! 
