Finding Comet 17P in urban skies

Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed out
skies is easy. In the north-east sky at around 9:30 pm, there are four
or five bright visible stars. Capella in Auriga is near the horizon.
In Perseus, Mirfak (alpha Per), Algol (beta Per) and Comet 17P are
visible. delta Per may also be visible.

http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/1...mesFinder2.PNG

Mirfak and Algol are nearly horizontal to each other relative to the
horizon. With delta Per, Mirfak and Algol form a capital letter "L"
asterism rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Mirfak and Algol are the long
side of capital "L"; Mirfak and delta Per are the short foot of the
capital letter "L".

Algol, Mirfak and Comet 17P form a hockey stick asterism. Algol and
Mirfak are the handle of the hockey stick. Mirfak and Comet 17P form
the striking face or "head" of the hockey stick asterism.

- C

"canopus56" wrote in message
ups.com...
Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed
out
skies is easy.

Overcast sucks.

--

Rick Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35.3"
Lat +42° 11' 06.7"

"Rick Evans" wrote in message
news:RetUi.118$pT.27@trndny07...
"canopus56" wrote in message
ups.com...
Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed out
skies is easy.

Overcast sucks.

POLLUTION SUCKS AS BAD..if it ain't clouds it's smog!!

"canopus56" wrote in message
ups.com...
Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed out
skies is easy. In the north-east sky at around 9:30 pm, there are four
or five bright visible stars. Capella in Auriga is near the horizon.
In Perseus, Mirfak (alpha Per), Algol (beta Per) and Comet 17P are
visible. delta Per may also be visible.

http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/1...mesFinder2.PNG

Mirfak and Algol are nearly horizontal to each other relative to the
horizon. With delta Per, Mirfak and Algol form a capital letter "L"
asterism rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Mirfak and Algol are the long
side of capital "L"; Mirfak and delta Per are the short foot of the
capital letter "L".

Algol, Mirfak and Comet 17P form a hockey stick asterism. Algol and
Mirfak are the handle of the hockey stick. Mirfak and Comet 17P form
the striking face or "head" of the hockey stick asterism.

- C


Very good directions.

I found the comet last night -- the problem was that I was looking for a
faint fuzzy and I could not believe that big, bright thing was the comet,
so, I ignored it. After a few minutes of scanning the skies around Mirfak
and not finding the comet, I put my binos on that bright thing --
amazing!!!! Then I dragged out my 12-inch Dob and the sight was
spectacular.

On Oct 26, 3:37 pm, canopus56 wrote:
Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed out
skies is easy. In the north-east sky at around 9:30 pm, there are four
or five bright visible stars. Capella in Auriga is near the horizon.
In Perseus, Mirfak (alpha Per), Algol (beta Per) and Comet 17P are
visible. delta Per may also be visible.

http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/1...mesFinder2.PNG

Mirfak and Algol are nearly horizontal to each other relative to the
horizon. With delta Per, Mirfak and Algol form a capital letter "L"
asterism rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Mirfak and Algol are the long
side of capital "L"; Mirfak and delta Per are the short foot of the
capital letter "L".

Algol, Mirfak and Comet 17P form a hockey stick asterism. Algol and
Mirfak are the handle of the hockey stick. Mirfak and Comet 17P form
the striking face or "head" of the hockey stick asterism.

- C

Hi C-
Good chart.
How many degrees is Mirfak from the Comet?
Thanks.
Bruce

On Oct 26, 8:24 pm, brucegooglegroups
wrote:
On Oct 26, 3:37 pm, canopus56 wrote:



Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed out
skies is easy. In the north-east sky at around 9:30 pm, there are four
or five bright visible stars. Capella in Auriga is near the horizon.
In Perseus, Mirfak (alpha Per), Algol (beta Per) and Comet 17P are
visible. delta Per may also be visible.

http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/1...mesFinder2.PNG

Mirfak and Algol are nearly horizontal to each other relative to the
horizon. With delta Per, Mirfak and Algol form a capital letter "L"
asterism rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Mirfak and Algol are the long
side of capital "L"; Mirfak and delta Per are the short foot of the
capital letter "L".

Algol, Mirfak and Comet 17P form a hockey stick asterism. Algol and
Mirfak are the handle of the hockey stick. Mirfak and Comet 17P form
the striking face or "head" of the hockey stick asterism.

- C

Hi C-
Good chart.
How many degrees is Mirfak from the Comet?
Thanks.
Bruce

Also- what will the comet look like in binoculars?
Clearer Skies.
Bruce

"brucegooglegroups" wrote in message
ps.com...
On Oct 26, 8:24 pm, brucegooglegroups
wrote:
On Oct 26, 3:37 pm, canopus56 wrote:



Finding Comet 17P in urban light-polluted or full Moon washed out
skies is easy. In the north-east sky at around 9:30 pm, there are four
or five bright visible stars. Capella in Auriga is near the horizon.
In Perseus, Mirfak (alpha Per), Algol (beta Per) and Comet 17P are
visible. delta Per may also be visible.

http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/1...mesFinder2.PNG

Mirfak and Algol are nearly horizontal to each other relative to the
horizon. With delta Per, Mirfak and Algol form a capital letter "L"
asterism rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Mirfak and Algol are the long
side of capital "L"; Mirfak and delta Per are the short foot of the
capital letter "L".

Algol, Mirfak and Comet 17P form a hockey stick asterism. Algol and
Mirfak are the handle of the hockey stick. Mirfak and Comet 17P form
the striking face or "head" of the hockey stick asterism.

- C

Hi C-
Good chart.
How many degrees is Mirfak from the Comet?
Thanks.
Bruce

Also- what will the comet look like in binoculars?
Clearer Skies.
Bruce


I assume you have viewed Venus and stars through binos. Viewing Venus
through binos is similar to staring at an automobile headlight aimed at you
while a star, viewed through binos, is a point of light.

The comet is somewhere between Venus and a star -- it's not as bright as
Venus but it's a round spot of light, not a pin point like a star.

On Oct 26, 6:37 pm, brucegooglegroups
wrote:

Also- what will the comet look like in binoculars?

I've just completed another comet observing session (around 3:00 UT 27
Oct.). Having read your post prior to going out, I made notes
concerning the current view with 8x42 and 20x80 binoculars:

With 8x42s the comet appeared as a small, extended (definitely non-
stellar) object with a subtle yellow-orange color. I could see a
brighter spot hugged by a less bright circular coma. It's very
unlikely that you could mistake this comet for a star with such
binoculars.

With 20x80s (hand-held using an outside wall to steady the view) the
view was "beautiful"! The comet seemed to have a pale yellowish
bright spot that was clearly off-center within a less bright, pale
green-blue-gray coma. The outermost edge of the coma was suspected to
have a weak hint of red. The view closely resembled a miniature
version of some of the photos that have been appearing here and there.

With the unaided eye the comet appeared to be clearly brighter than
Delta Persei and slightly brighter than Gamma Persei. It seemed to
have a very slight yellow-orange color and seemed to be ever so
slightly non-stellar in appearance.

Note that this comet has appeared at least a little different each
night. Don't expect the above descriptions to hold for long!
Furthermore, the colors I've mentioned (real or imagined) are very
likely to be at least a little different for different observers.

Bill Greer
To sketch is to see.
http://cejour.blogspot.com
http://www.rangeweb.net/~sketcher

On Oct 26, 6:24 pm, brucegooglegroups
wrote:
Hi C-
Good chart.
How many degrees is Mirfak from the Comet?
Thanks.
Bruce- Hide quoted text -

Here's a chart I prepared for 10-25 that shows the slews in both alt-
az and ra-dec.

http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/1...lmesFinder.PNG

For visual observing its still good. - Canopus56

Rick Evans wrote:
Overcast sucks.

I hear that.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html