Comet McNaught Experiences

Had a good week observing the comet.

We started with Myself, wife and next door neighbours son and
grandfather.

We found a good western horizon, high up, and we setup each evening
before sunset.
A few good bottles of red wine, cheeses, director chairs, scopes,
binocs and various cameras.

First night just the few of us, and some clouds, but others started
to come to see what the fuss was all about. Clouds obscured the
observations, but we promised to come back the next night. Sunset was
spectacular by the way.

Next night, more people, most with cameras, I got to give an
impromptu talk on the nature of comets, and Venus which was visible.

Lots of people saw the comet, took photos, so I was able to teach a
little about timed exposures, even to the kids who had brought their
"cheap" digital cameras ( we loaned each kid the tripod mount in turn
so they could take their own photo). Tail was quite prominent.

Next night, a larger group, including people from the previous group,
and I was pleased to see 2 of the kids from the previous night had
returned, with library books on Astronomy which they had loaned,
including Carl Sagan's "Comet".

Gave another impromptu talk about comets, the day old moon appeared so
a brief talk about that (no imaginary GIANT MOON ILLUSION stuff came
up, except when I mentioned it and gave everyone a laugh at how
misinformed some people can be), comets, Venus, and a repeat of the
previous evening.

Several intelligent questions from people who were there to learn and
enjoy.

Also several people likely to join the local camera club, and the
local astronomical society.

The most satisfying thing: a couple of dozen more people less likely
to fall prey to the loons and crackpots of the world.



--

Find out about Australia's most dangerous Doomsday Cult:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/wanglese/pebble.htm

"You can't fool me, it's turtles all the way down."

"Maths proves you know how to plug in some figures into a formula, that's
all"
"Even physics is based on wrong theories, so what's the use of maths"
Carole - demonstrating her mathematical abilities.

Wally Anglesea™ wrote:
Had a good week observing the comet.

We started with Myself, wife and next door neighbours son and
grandfather.

We found a good western horizon, high up, and we setup each evening
before sunset.
A few good bottles of red wine, cheeses, director chairs, scopes,
binocs and various cameras.

First night just the few of us, and some clouds, but others started
to come to see what the fuss was all about. Clouds obscured the
observations, but we promised to come back the next night. Sunset was
spectacular by the way.

Next night, more people, most with cameras, I got to give an
impromptu talk on the nature of comets, and Venus which was visible.

Lots of people saw the comet, took photos, so I was able to teach a
little about timed exposures, even to the kids who had brought their
"cheap" digital cameras ( we loaned each kid the tripod mount in turn
so they could take their own photo). Tail was quite prominent.

Next night, a larger group, including people from the previous group,
and I was pleased to see 2 of the kids from the previous night had
returned, with library books on Astronomy which they had loaned,
including Carl Sagan's "Comet".

Gave another impromptu talk about comets, the day old moon appeared so
a brief talk about that (no imaginary GIANT MOON ILLUSION stuff came
up, except when I mentioned it and gave everyone a laugh at how
misinformed some people can be), comets, Venus, and a repeat of the
previous evening.

Several intelligent questions from people who were there to learn and
enjoy.

Also several people likely to join the local camera club, and the
local astronomical society.

The most satisfying thing: a couple of dozen more people less likely
to fall prey to the loons and crackpots of the world.



--

Find out about Australia's most dangerous Doomsday Cult:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/wanglese/pebble.htm

"You can't fool me, it's turtles all the way down."

"Maths proves you know how to plug in some figures into a formula, that's
all"
"Even physics is based on wrong theories, so what's the use of maths"
Carole - demonstrating her mathematical abilities.


It was still a fine sight in binos this evening from Albany, NZ. I
hadn't been able to observe it for the last three nights as there was
too much cloud. The best view I saw was the evening of the 18th. A
twelve year old girl was concerned that it was going to crash into the
Earth. She probably thought it was heading straight down as people not
knowing otherwise think that the comet tail trails behind, when in fact
it is just being swept away from the Sun by the solar wind. That
particular evening, the tail was pretty much vertical to the horizon.

Bill