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Astronomers

3K views 49 replies 23 participants last post by  Santiam338 
#1 ·
Have any of you seen the comet? Went out a little while ago and there's something to the right of the rising moon but even with the 10X binoculars I can't see a tail. Object is kind of an odd color, not white. There is another very bright object but not where the comet is supposed to be. It really stands out. Nothing looks like comets I've seen in the past.
 
#3 ·
We went out to see if we could see it. It was NE, maybe ENE, at 3:30 am, and closer to the horizon than I thought. Once I found it, I couldn't imagine how I missed it. Pretty cool. Definitely left of the moon by quite a bit.


I saw some other stuff I had not noticed. Kind of a fuzzy spot with 3 seemingly distinct points of light. When I put the 'nocs on it, it was a significant cluster of stars. Not really into astronomy but that was interesting.
 
#5 ·
Maybe we'll break out our telescope tonight, as just like the moon, & planets they sure looks more impressive when magnified.
 
#15 ·
Yeah, finally found it, had to disregard Salesky's directions, it is more north of the big dipper and about a hands width above the horizon.
 
#16 ·
Yep.

Took a couple trips to the web to figure it out.

Neat stuff!
 
#17 ·
Here's what it looked like last night using an Iphone/PhoneSkope along with a 36x Bushnell spotting scope. With a whole bunch of imagination, you can almost make out the bifurcation in the tail.

I was on the rooftop of an industrial building in Wilsonville, trying to get above the pollution of streetlights. Used 10x binoculars first to locate it, and then was able to find it in the viewfinder of the scope.

Back down at ground level I couldn't see it at all.

Locate the Big Dipper, which is currently hanging upside down with the handle pointed up. Approximately one fist below the Dipper, and slightly to the right. Roughly 2230 hours.

It was pretty breezy, and near impossible to get a decent focus even though I was using a Bluetooth shutter release.

Caught Jupiter along with 3 of it's 79 moons also, as long as I was up there.


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#19 ·
It was fairly low in horizon from my place. Hand or so above the horizon.

If you have a hill to the NW of you, back away from it, or got to top of it.
 
#21 ·
I live near Roseburg and from what I could glean from the net is it is really low on the horizon and although I can see the area below the big dipper the hillside I think blocks my PM NW direction view. I looked a couple times in the morning for the NE view and did not see it the first morning but this morning (4:30 had to pee) I panned the NW with the nocs near the horizon and there she was out toward Mt. Scott!!! :meme:The comet that is not my pee. After seeing the location I will probably try a little earlier in the morning to see if it shows up brighter. Once knowing where it was you could see it with the unaided eye but nocs really helped. Kinda reminded me of looking for blows when hunting for whales....just no salt spray.


Not an astronomer so ....not much help on what star cluster the comet is near for the AM show....go about 85 to 90 degrees more east than the big dipper local. Guess I will not see it's next earth pass some 6000 plus years from now. Not to steal the comet thread but the total eclipse a couple years ago was awesome up east of Corvallis.
 
#22 ·
Saw it last night about 1 hr after sunset, telescope was blurry, so naked eye was all we got, never was a great telescope anyway, so I'm gonna buy another better telescope, hopefully it will arrive in time.
 
#23 ·
...telescope was blurry, so naked eye was all we got, ..

The head of the comet is 'fuzzy' from the gasses coming off. It doesn't totally resolve to the crispness of a planet.
To find it I suggest at about 10:30 pm look due north, and then about two fists at arms length or 20 degrees west. It will be hanging not far above the horizon...if you're craning your neck you're look much too high.

We used 80x20 tripod mounted binocs and smaller 10x30 and 10x40 binoculars. The 10x30's may have worked best due to the large field of view. The tail on this comet is long....not as long as Hale Bopp but at least 5 degrees to the eye, and much longer on a timed exposure.
 
#24 ·
Anybody remember the comet Hale-Bopp in 97?
Bout the most spanktacular one I have ever observed.

Bad tidings with that sucka for me though.
Got divorced and ended up selling my beautiful 10 acres that same year. :(
If it comes around again in our lifetime. Don't look.
 
#25 ·
No problem finding it with the naked eye, we used binoculars last night, still very small tho, telescope would help, but our telescope is 20 years old, & outdated, we have seen the Moon's craters, Mars, Venus, Saturn, & Jupiter with it, used to be a clear view, but never was great, mostly cause it is hard to adjust, & keep still, it has sat around collecting dust for a several years now, daughter tried to clean the lenses, which only made it worse, it's time for a new better one.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Neowise:


International Space Station running through the Big Dipper with the comet below:


Schoolhouse and the Milky Way:


Interesting...my computer's photo gallery did not transfer the edited photos to the ifish gallery. HELP. Example is the fence post in the lit up schoolhouse photo...I took it out in my editing program, but stayed when I transfered them here. Hmmm




BU
 
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