Re: Looks like Comet McNOT for me :(

Jan Owen wrote:
<tony_flanders@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1168620187.039575.275140@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John Banister wrote:

So what's the furtherest south anyone has seen it? I couldn't find it at
33N, but weather only allowed me to try on Wed.
Barbara Wilson saw it at latitude 29.3N south of Houston. And the
geometry now
at all mid-northern latitudes isn't much worse than it was there then.
Don't give
up yet!

- Tony Flanders


It's been cloudy here northwest of Phoenix (33.6 North), but it FINALLY cleared late this afternoon, and I picked it up right away with binoculars, once the sun had set behind the White Tank Mountains...

Viewed it in 8X42 and 11X80 binoculars, and got a few images with my digital camera, too...

I had all but given up seeing it because of persistent cloudiness at all the wrong times, but got lucky tonight...

Colorado weather opened up yesterday (more snow today :-p ).
When I got to my observing site, a relatively high spot overlooking the foot hills, the sun had just slid down behind low clouds.
Using 8x56 binocs, I spotted the comet fairly high above the clouds at 4:41 MST. Spotted it visually two minutes later. Naked eye, McNaught looked like Venus seen through a thin layer of clouds with a hint of an anti-solar tail. Two degrees + of slightly curved tail visible in binocs.
I'll try to see it in sunlight as soon as the sun is visible again.


Shawn
.

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