OT: The Green Comet (Was Cool Sky pics) 2005-01-09 - By Ed Baker
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Thanks to Mike Harris,
Well, my fiancée and I got to see Comet Machholz (the green comet) on
Saturday Night! It was spectacular!
Friday night here in South Carolina (USA) cloudy as well Tony. So, we
just had to wait for Saturday. It started out cloudy, but it cleared up
around 9pm EST. By that point in the night, the comet was pretty much
straight up. While it can be seen with the naked eye, to find it, all
you really need is some binoculars. We used a pair of Bushnell 8x21
(378ft at 1000 yards). The same kind that you might use for bird
watching, or sports I guess.
To find it, face pretty much due south and find The Pleiades Star
Cluster at the right tip of Taurus. Taurus itself is a little bit of a
pain, so you might want to start by finding Orion. Just look for the
belt - Thanks Men In Black ;)
Here's approximately where the comet was last night, and a map of the
constellations to help:
http://www.rift3d.com/Star_Map.jpg <http://www.rift3d.com/Star_Map.jpg>
The comet is shown brighter than it actually is to the naked eye. In
fact, Pleiades looks like little more than a blur, but you can make out
the individual stars after a while when your eyes become adjusted.
Here's a second pic to show you a close up of the cluster and the comet
with its projected places in the sky:
http://www.rift3d.com/green_comet.jpg
<http://www.rift3d.com/green_comet.jpg>
The comet, when you find it, will look like a cloudy star. We were
unable to actually see the "green" color, but that could've been due to
a number of factors, first and foremost is the light collecting ability
of whatever device you are looking through. Wider is better - not
magnification, which is what I used to think before I started using
telescopes. Also the ground light might interfered as well.
Even when we went to the scope and were able to look in for a close up,
we still saw a cloudy star. Much bigger, but still no discernable color.
It was beuatiful!
By the way, my scope is a Meade 5 inch Reflector, and I primarily used
the 25mm eyepiece for viewing the cluster and comet.
Here, I must give credit where credit is due. My fiancée is the one who
found it. I had first tried to find it with the scope, but turns out I
was looking too far to the right of Pleiades. I had pretty much given
up, and resigned myself to looking at Saturn and Pleiades, which is
itself very magnificent (For Pleiades, the binoculars were actually the
best because they gave us a nice wide view of the sky while still
collecting enough light and zooming in close enough to see the cluster
brilliantly). Anyway, Sheri (my fiancée) suddenly says to me, "I think I
found something, maybe the comet." Of course this gets me all excited,
and I ask her where. She points it out to me and I take a look. Sure
enough, I think she has it. I thought if not the comet, then at the very
least she found a galaxy, or possibly a stellar cloud of some type. So I
ran back inside, and checked my Starfinder software which showed no
galaxies or clouds in the area. Then I double checked the article on the
Spaceweather.com site where I initially read about it. So yep, I was
pretty certain she had found it. Turns out, where I was looking was
anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees off, which in stellar terms means
something like looking for North America in Europe! The best thing about
the whole experience was that it was her first Stellar object that she
found all on her own! Couldn't be prouder or happier for her, and
thankful, since I couldn't of found it without her!
Well, I'll stop rambling on. Just saying that if its not cloudy tonight
(Tony ;) ), and if you have a low powered telescope or binoculars, heck
even with just your eyes, walk outside tonight and take a look. Makes
you feel good.
One last Thank You to Mike Harris for sending the link. Check it out,
there's a couple of really good photos of the comet on it:
http://spaceweather.com/ <http://spaceweather.com/>
Wouldn't of even know about it Mike, if you hadn't sent it.
I hope some of you out there get the chance to see it, and now back to
3D - at least till tonight :)
Oh and if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, reverse all the compass
directions to find it.
Ed Baker
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Thanks to Mike Harris,<br><br>
Well, my fiancée and I got to see <font size=2><i>Comet
Machholz</i></font> (the green comet) on Saturday Night! It was
spectacular! <br><br>
Friday night here in South Carolina (USA) cloudy as well Tony. So, we
just had to wait for Saturday. It started out cloudy, but it cleared up
around 9pm EST. By that point in the night, the comet was pretty much
straight up. While it can be seen with the naked eye, to find it, all you
really need is some binoculars. We used a pair of Bushnell 8x21 (378ft at
1000 yards). The same kind that you might use for bird watching, or
sports I guess.<br><br>
To find it, face pretty much due south and find The Pleiades Star Cluster
at the right tip of Taurus. Taurus itself is a little bit of a pain, so
you might want to start by finding Orion. Just look for the belt - Thanks
Men In Black ;)<br><br>
Here's approximately where the comet was last night, and a map of the
constellations to help:<br>
<a href="http://www.rift3d.com/Star_Map.jpg" eudora="autourl">http://www.rift3d
.com/Star_Map.jpg</a><br><br>
The comet is shown brighter than it actually is to the naked eye. In
fact, Pleiades looks like little more than a blur, but you can make out
the individual stars after a while when your eyes become
adjusted.<br><br>
Here's a second pic to show you a close up of the cluster and the comet
with its projected places in the sky:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.rift3d.com/green_comet.jpg" eudora="autourl">http://www
.rift3d.com/green_comet.jpg<br><br>
</a>The comet, when you find it, will look like a cloudy star. We were
unable to actually see the "green" color, but that could've
been due to a number of factors, first and foremost is the light
collecting ability of whatever device you are looking through. Wider is
better - not magnification, which is what I used to think before I
started using telescopes. Also the ground light might interfered as
well.<br><br>
Even when we went to the scope and were able to look in for a close up,
we still saw a cloudy star. Much bigger, but still no discernable color.
It was beuatiful!<br><br>
By the way, my scope is a Meade 5 inch Reflector, and I primarily used
the 25mm eyepiece for viewing the cluster and comet.<br><br>
Here, I must give credit where credit is due. My fiancée is the one who
found it. I had first tried to find it with the scope, but turns out I
was looking too far to the right of Pleiades. I had pretty much given up,
and resigned myself to looking at Saturn and Pleiades, which is itself
very magnificent (For Pleiades, the binoculars were actually the best
because they gave us a nice wide view of the sky while still collecting
enough light and zooming in close enough to see the cluster brilliantly).
Anyway, Sheri (my fiancée) suddenly says to me, "I think I found
something, maybe the comet." Of course this gets me all excited, and
I ask her where. She points it out to me and I take a look. Sure enough,
I think she has it. I thought if not the comet, then at the very least
she found a galaxy, or possibly a stellar cloud of some type. So I ran
back inside, and checked my Starfinder software which showed no galaxies
or clouds in the area. Then I double checked the article on the
Spaceweather.com site where I initially read about it. So yep, I was
pretty certain she had found it. Turns out, where I was looking was
anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees off, which in stellar terms means
something like looking for North America in Europe! The best thing about
the whole experience was that it was her first Stellar object that she
found all on her own! Couldn't be prouder or happier for her, and
thankful, since I couldn't of found it without her!<br><br>
Well, I'll stop rambling on. Just saying that if its not cloudy tonight
(Tony ;) ), and if you have a low powered telescope or binoculars, heck
even with just your eyes, walk outside tonight and take a look. Makes you
feel good.<br><br>
One last Thank You to Mike Harris for sending the link. Check it out,
there's a couple of really good photos of the comet on it:<br><br>
<a href="http://spaceweather.com/" eudora="autourl">http://spaceweather.com/</a
><br><br>
Wouldn't of even know about it Mike, if you hadn't sent it.<br><br>
I hope some of you out there get the chance to see it, and now back to 3D
- at least till tonight :)<br><br>
Oh and if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, reverse all the compass
directions to find it.<br><br>
Ed Baker</body>
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