Tag Archives: comet

ISON- a glimpse from England.

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Comet ISON seen by the University of London Ob...

Comet ISON seen by the University of London Observatory (Photo credit: UCL )

2°C,still, clear.
Barely visible– even in 8×40 binoculars. Scan just up and right of Spica in Virgo, immediately before sunrise; in my case- 05.50.
It was only a fleeting glimpse, with eyes slightly averted. Just a smudge.

|~~~~~~~o_o~~~~~~~|
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How many…

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4°C, clearing. Light wind.
How many comets have you seen today? I have only seen one.
As if to repeat yesterday, I walked up to the Gazebo immediately at sunset to hunt with binoculars again.
It took, maybe twenty minutes before I found it, or the light fading revealed the comet at that time. Maybe both.
Remember that I was on a viewpoint above the city, but the comet was small. Very small. In fact, I could not see it without binoculars. Still, the thrill was strong. It has been about 12 years since last I saw a comet. That time it was Hale-Bopp, a much bigger, brighter phenomenon.
Some articles is the media have suggested that 2013 could be the year of comets. I’m looking.

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Comet hunt.

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-2° ~ +4°C, strong NE.
It was 12 years since Hale-Bopp and Halley’s was hidden by cloud.

This image was selected as a picture of the we...

This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Malay Wikipedia for the 36th week, 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rushed home to get out to a good viewpoint tonight. Comet Pann-starr is grazing the sun today and should show a decent tail for the next few days. Awkwardly, it is very low on the horizon just after sunset. That means there is short time between pale twilight sky and and the object setting.
I knew where to look, I had binoculars, but there was still a problem.
A narrow bank of cloud lay over Cannock Chase. I knew where it was, and there were a few gaps in the cloud but not where I wanted one.

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