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Saw the comet this morning! It will start to appear in the evening sky this week. Check it out, it?s a good one!
What time were you out there Barb? Did you see it naked eye, binocs? Or did you have your scope as well?
Looks like it may already be out in the evening, but not too high.
Was out this am as well (4:30 am under clear skies in Preston MN.) Found the comet at 30 degrees E about 20 degrees (coma) above the horizon. Couldn't see it at first with naked eye but sweeping with my 7 x 50 Orion Scenix binoculars allowed me and my wife to have a great view. The coma and tail almost filled the 7.1 degree fov of the binocs. Have to agree with ellenvega it's a very nice comet. Look forward to those pictures Mike and others will take!
I?ve been following Driftless Stargazing LLC on Facebook for info. I was up at 4 this morning and could see it naked eye in the northeast, even with the moonlight. Could see the tail and everything. I did use my binoculars, too. It?ll be getting brighter in the NW evenings this week.
fealeybob14, do you live in Preston?
Hello ellenvega (is Barb your first name?). Please call me Bob! No, I do not live in Preston but the wife and I were RV camping at Valley View. The 'Valley' is that of Watson Creek and the campground is immediately off US 52 just north of Preston. Some areas of the campground have a good view of the sky (especially the NE portion of sky) and the area lights are not bad.
Was out this am as well, but was at home in Rochester. Got out at about 4:20 am and saw the comet again as described in my previous post. I should have been out there from 3:30 to 4:15 am for a better view in darker skies. Could see the coma at least with the naked eye, but the view with 7 x 50 binocs was so much better. Tried my 20 x 80 giant binocs but the sky was brightening too much by the time I was set up, as so the view was not impressive.
Was not knowledgeable of the Driftless Stargazing observing group https://www.facebook.com/DriftlessStargazing/ but have heard of them and their website looks great, including up to date info on the comet.
While it's great the comet is now circumpolar and visible after sunset, my view of the NW sky is not great with Roch city lights and some trees. Root River Park would be better. Hopefully we'll have a good view on the dark sky weekend coming up.
Finally got out this morning. Agree with everyone else, it is very nice. I was out at Root River Park maybe about 4:20 or so. I stopped on the way in to look for it and found it right away with binoculars. Once I found it, I could make it out naked eye. It has a nice tail. I continued on into the parking lot and was able to see it from the parking lot as well. I would suggest getting out there between 4 and 4:30 or earlier. By 4:50, I was having trouble finding it with binoculars as the sky was brightening up so fast.
In the next few mornings, the moon will be getting closer to the comet and comet will be getting a little lower each day.
I did try to find it last evening, but no luck. There were too many clouds and the sky was bright. Seeing what it was like this morning, I can see why I couldn't see it last night. I see it will be getting a couple of degrees higher each night in the coming week, so by this weekend it may show up quite well by 10pm or later and will be in the NW.At 10pm tonight, the comet will be at 9 degrees altitude in the NW. By Friday, it will be at 17 degrees and going up about 1.5 to 2 degrees a day. So, looks like a good shot at seeing it in the evening with clear skies and getting darker. Probably has to be close to 10pm to be dark enough as the sun is setting close to 9pm.
Is the weather going to be clear this weekend? Eagle Bluff available or anyone thinking of going out?
Jim, probably for the comet, I'll just walk down the road to have a look at it. Head down to the field west of our place. Should have a low enough horizon for the comet. Otherwise I'll post if I go somewhere else this weekend.
JeffWow, comet is fantastic tonight! Head on out and look toward the NW. You may be able to see it naked eye or grab your binoculars.
We headed down the road and were across from the soybean field so we had a good low horizon to the NW. We headed fairly early so we could catch the ISS fly over at 9:48pm. ISS was great, listed as a -3.4 magnitude. First found the comet while the ISS was up, about 9:52 or so. It was around 10:10pm when we could start to see the comet naked eye. As the sky darkened the comet showed up more and more and easy to find naked eye. Besides the ISS, also saw 2 bright meteors! It was a great night, will have to head out to a darker site to see the comet again or find a place that isn't on the road. 🙂
Jefffealeybob14~ yup my real name is Barb. 🙂
I hope everyone checks out the comet tonight! It sounds like perfect weather. Just go out as far from the city as you can with a good view of the northwest. Should be visible from around 9:45pm to around midnight? Accuweather is saying mostly cloudy Friday night and partly cloudy/humid on Saturday night for Eagle Bluff. Next week who knows what the weather or comet will be doing.
I was thinking,.. I wonder if the Club has any outreach planned, then I remembered our situation. 🙁
Don't pass this opportunity up! Even if you're tired at work tomorrow. 🙂
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