New Comet Now Visible to Naked Eye

Yahoo ^ | December 8, 2004 | Robert Roy Rritt

[Eastbound]

Nice!

[quietolong]

bump

[Nuzcruizer]

Maybe we will get lucky and it will change course and hit mecca.

[RightWhale]

visible without binoculars or telescopes by experienced observers under dark skies

Haven't seen a star dimmer than mag 4 for years in this light-polluted town. Mag 3 is the usual limit, which gives us about two dozen stars on the usual clear night. M31 is still visible in spite of that, but that's only because I have been watching it for decades. In prior times before we decided to light up the night this comet would have been easy almost anywhere, even downtown Manhattan now and then. Experienced observers are rare birds.

[Joe Miner]

Amazing naked-eye observers can still make discoveries like this.

Actually it was discovered using a telescope. It just recently became visible to naked-eye observers.

"Backyard astronomers have been watching Machholz for months through telescopes. It was spotted by naked-eye observers for the first time about three weeks ago from the Southern Hemisphere, said Donald Machholz, who discovered the frozen chunk of rock and ice in August."

Machholz is probably using some sort of sky searching software looking for moving objects since he is the discoverer of 9 other comets. Not bad for a backyard amateur!

[LibWhacker]

Wow! You're in Anchorage, aren't you? Didn't know Anchorage was that bad.

I'd like to move back to the boonies myself someday so I can see the night sky again, and plink tin cans from my back porch anytime I want, if I so desire. Question is, will I make it before my eyes give out completely. :-(

[LibWhacker]

Ohhhhhhh! . . . Misread that one, didn't I? Thanks.

[RightWhale]

Fairbanks. Think it's the boonies? Many do. This place is lighted so you could see it from Mars. Anchorage is probably worse. Fairbanks is also the 4th most dangerous metropolitan area in the country, that's right, which all the artificial light hasn't done anything to help.

[Chemist_Geek]

Finding it: draw a line between Betelgeuse, the top left, reddish star in Orion, to Rigel (the bright bottom right star). Go further along that line the same distance again. The comet is right there. It's about 2 degrees (the length of Orion's belt) south of 54 Eridani, which is really the only star easily visible to the unaided eye in the region; it's moving north, and by December 12 should be due East of 54 Eridani. By early January it will be much brighter and next to the Pleiades.

Thanks! Now, if we could only do something about these clouds...

[fire_eye]

Any chances of getting all the Senators who voted for the Stupidity Reform Bill today, to join a cult and get on the spacecraft that's following it?

[apastron]

Maybe we will get lucky and it will change course and hit mecca.

That would be... bad. For everyone... everywhere.

[LibWhacker]

Wow, I had NO idea. Yeah, I always thought Anchorage, and especially Fairbanks, were relatively small and safe. Never been to Alaska. Always been a dream of mine.

[EternalVigilance]

Dang. I went outside and looked up, but all I could see was the Sears Tower...

[apastron]

Machholz is probably using some sort of sky searching software looking for moving objects since he is the discoverer of 9 other comets. Not bad for a backyard amateur!

Here's his story...
Machholz Discovery

[gobucks]

great graphic - thanks for posting...

[Alaska Wolf]

Anchorage is over 250,000 population now. Much like any other city of similar size it has the same problems. But a half-hours drive will get you in the boonies and a half-hours flight will get you beyond the road system to areas where you'll rarely see another human.

[Molly Pitcher]

Very helpful tips. Thanks!

[RandallFlagg]

Thanks for the ping.

[Right Wing Professor]

I think you'll need a lot more exposure; looks like you're only picking up mag 2; you'll need to get to mag 5, which will take about 20 times longer.

I've found a little photoshop enhancement does wonders with digital photos of the sky. In any case, I'll give it a shot myself this evening.

Of course, if you wait a month, you may be able to get a nice wide-angle shot with the comet and the Pleiades.

[Eastbound]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try again tonight too. I used f 3.5 and 30 seconds for the pic. Guess I'll try for 10 minutes. We usually have clear nights here with no glow. I'm out in the boonies at the edge of the Gila National Forest in NM and the skies are spectacular most of the time.

Trying to figure out how to get beyond the 30-second max time exposure on my camera. It doesn't have the bulb setting. Otherwise won't be able to get the pix.