Big Asteroid 2004 BL86 Buzzes Earth on January 26: How to See it in Your Telescope

http://www.universetoday.com/118187/big-asteroid-2004-bl86-buzzes-earth-on-january-26-how-to-see-it-in-your-telescope/#more-118187 ^

[BenLurkin]

2004 BL86 checks in at 2,230 feet (680-m) wide or nearly half a mile. Add up its significant size and relatively close approach – 745,000 miles (1.2 million km) – and something wonderful happens. This newsy space rock is expected to reach magnitude +9.0, bright enough to see in a 3-inch telescope or even large binoculars.

[Rich21IE]

Ping

[yarddog]

I remember when the Hale Bopp comet came into view. I wanted to see it as I had tried to watch Haley’s Comet but was disappointed that it was so weak.

I drove over to my parents because they lived in a rural area with no lights around. I set up my spotting scope, which was only a 22X but was very clear. It had ED glass elements and was a top of the line model.

Just before twilight I got a pretty good view of it. I went inside and mentioned to my parents that I could see a comet and wondered if they would also like to see it.

To my surprise they both did. I guess they were in their 80s and knew it would be the only time in their life that they would be able to see one.

[BenLurkin]

Good for them! That is a wonderful memory to have of parents.

[Kirkwood]

Hoping for clear skies. Should be a good object for time-lapse photography.

[mikrofon]

[Verginius Rufus]

Back when Halley's Comet came around in the 1980s, there was a Family Circus cartoon where the dad is showing the kids the comet with a telescope, and one of them asks him, "Is that all a comet does?"

[yarddog]

I am trying to remember Halley’s comet. I was living in Western Kansas at the time. I remember that I bought an inexpensive telescope just to watch it but don’t think I ever even saw it.

Whatever, I do remember being disappointed.

[Nowhere Man]

I felt screwed by Halley's Comet in 1986 but I did see Hyakutake in 1996 with my Dad in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997 with my mother. Hale-Bopp was so bright in the Northwest sky it even amazed my mother. I lost Mom in 2013 so this is one memory I have with her. Last year, I saw a comet as I took out the trash.

Let me add that on December 31, 2014 at 7:13 PM EST, I was walking out of the mall I work just west of Pittsburgh and while walking to the car, I looked up to see a meteor break up, it was a bright yellow/orange.