[Chaos-l] Comet McNaught

[William Cook]

I took my daughter out to Mapleview Dairy ice cream store out on  
Dairyland Rd. about 5:35 this evening on the spur of the moment.  No  
binoc's or telescope.  The comet was easy to see naked eye in the  
setting twilight.  The tail was also prominent naked eye.  Weather  
permitting, I plan to go out Thursday evening as well with some  
8X56's and maybe a Pronto.

Bill Cook

On Jan 10, 2007, at 9:18 PM, Steve Meister wrote:

> Thanks Terry!  It was very impressive and worth the search in the  
> cold.  I would estimate that the visible tail in the twilight was  
> more than 1 degree long.
>
> You will only be able to see the comet if you have a view of the  
> horizon.  I think that you will be OK at Ebenezer SP tomorrow,  
> since the comet will be at 1 degree altitude and behind the distant  
> hills 6 PM then anyway.  And that will be your last chance.  By  
> January 13 it will be within 5 degrees of the sun and not really  
> practical to spot.
>
> The comet will be hidden in the sun for the next few days.  We  
> should see it for a few days on the SOHO website ( http:// 
> www.space.com/spacewatch/soho_lasco_c3_live.html ) close to the  
> sun.  It will be visible for about 4 days on SOHO starting on Jan.  
> 12.  After that it will be visible only to southern-hemisphere  
> observers. This is likely the first and last visit of this comet.   
> The comet's current orbit and velocity means that it will escape  
> the solar system unless perturbed.
>
> Steve Meister
>
> From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l- 
> bounces at rtpnet.org] On Behalf Of Terry Crook
> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 8:15 PM
> To: chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> Subject: [Chaos-l] Comet McNaught
>
> Steve Meisner & I observed it Wed PM from Ebenezer State Park at  
> 5:30-6:00 with binoculars as well as my 80mm Celestron refractor.  
> It was about 10° above the tree line horizon at first, roughly 20°  
> to the right of Venus & much lower. The head was quite bright,  
> maybe magnitude 2 (?) & the tail was fan-shaped aimed toward 2  
> o'clock. By 5:55, it was getting down into the atmospheric haze &  
> reddish twilight glow, so the head became less distinct. Anyone  
> going to Ebenezer SP should be aware that the ranger closes the  
> entry gate at about 6 (~1/2 hr past sunset?). He did check to see  
> if anyone was out there about 10 minutes before & thoughtfully gave  
> me time to load my 'scope, etc. back into my car shortly after 6. I  
> did encourage him to stop & take a look first which probably bought  
> us some extra time! I suppose one could park on the roadside on one  
> of the causeways crossing the lake below Farrington Point but  
> that's likely frowned upon by the authorities! It will be visible  
> at this time for a couple more days & then gone for us locally.
>
> TaurusTerry in Chapel Hill, NC
> 35 ° 57' N  79° 02' W
>
>
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