Comet Garradd again...

On Aug 26, 5:48*am, Rob wrote:
On 25/08/2011 04:49, Marty wrote:









After seeing that it was a clear night, and the moon wasn't
interfering yet, I ran out for another look at Comet Garradd. *I
hadn't seen it since my last effort when it was just creeping away
from Pegasus' nose, and now it was buzzing under the tip of
Sagitta... *I didn't take the time to dark adapt, and while I'm not
nearly as cursed by light pollution as most people, my situation
hasn't gotten any better over the years. *Also, I don't think my eyes
pick up dim objects quite as well as they did when a younger man was
using them. *I studied the chart (http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/)
carefully...
* * *When I got out to look at about 10:00pm CDT, I spent a few
minutes looking around at the constellations and bright "M" objects to
let my eyes adapt just a bit. *Not a bad evening... *66 F, a few
locusts chirping, and clear skies. *Then I swung my binocs up to
Sagitta and took a look. *I found a blur in about the right place, but
not EXACTLY in the right place. *I was a little confused and
frustrated. *I came in and checked the chart again, and then went out
and looked again. *There was the little fuzzball, but still, it wasn't
quite where it should be... *Was I seeing some of the background
confusion in the starclouds of the Milky Way, and missing the comet?
I went back in and checked the chart again... *AH HA... *The tick
marks on the chart weren't for 0 hours Universal Time, but for 13
hours on the 24th and 8 hours on the 25th... *OK, so I'm a better
observer than a chart reader... *THAT'S it... *I'm a better observer
than a chart reader... *That works....

Marty

If the skies are clear tonight (Fri Aug 26), 2009 P1 (Garradd) will be
within 10 arcmins of M71 at around 22:00 UTC, so should be fairly easy
to find. *I've been waiting to image this all week - guess what?.. yes,
raining now and not expected to stop for ~24h (of course.)
--
Rob

Hmmm. It's supposed to be clear here tonight... I might drag out the
scope.
BTW... To be honest, as an old starhopper, I use RA & Dec very
little. I more often look for triangles, rectangles, "houses," etc,
and then nudge, jump, and hop...

Marty

On 26/08/2011 14:07, Marty wrote:
On Aug 26, 5:48 am, Rob wrote:
On 25/08/2011 04:49, Marty wrote:









After seeing that it was a clear night, and the moon wasn't
interfering yet, I ran out for another look at Comet Garradd. I
hadn't seen it since my last effort when it was just creeping away
from Pegasus' nose, and now it was buzzing under the tip of
Sagitta... I didn't take the time to dark adapt, and while I'm not
nearly as cursed by light pollution as most people, my situation
hasn't gotten any better over the years. Also, I don't think my eyes
pick up dim objects quite as well as they did when a younger man was
using them. I studied the chart (http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/)
carefully...
When I got out to look at about 10:00pm CDT, I spent a few
minutes looking around at the constellations and bright "M" objects to
let my eyes adapt just a bit. Not a bad evening... 66 F, a few
locusts chirping, and clear skies. Then I swung my binocs up to
Sagitta and took a look. I found a blur in about the right place, but
not EXACTLY in the right place. I was a little confused and
frustrated. I came in and checked the chart again, and then went out
and looked again. There was the little fuzzball, but still, it wasn't
quite where it should be... Was I seeing some of the background
confusion in the starclouds of the Milky Way, and missing the comet?
I went back in and checked the chart again... AH HA... The tick
marks on the chart weren't for 0 hours Universal Time, but for 13
hours on the 24th and 8 hours on the 25th... OK, so I'm a better
observer than a chart reader... THAT'S it... I'm a better observer
than a chart reader... That works....

Marty

If the skies are clear tonight (Fri Aug 26), 2009 P1 (Garradd) will be
within 10 arcmins of M71 at around 22:00 UTC, so should be fairly easy
to find. I've been waiting to image this all week - guess what?.. yes,
raining now and not expected to stop for ~24h (of course.)
--
Rob

Hmmm. It's supposed to be clear here tonight... I might drag out the
scope.
BTW... To be honest, as an old starhopper, I use RA & Dec very
little. I more often look for triangles, rectangles, "houses," etc,
and then nudge, jump, and hop...


Yep, 'star-hopping' is successfully used by thousands! Even with
sophisticated GOTO systems, I generally star-hop to some extent,
partly as I find it enjoyable and partly because it's a form of
'reality check' - these systems can (and do) go wrong..
Cheers,
--
Rob

On Aug 26, 3:07*pm, Marty wrote:
On Aug 26, 5:48*am, Rob wrote:









On 25/08/2011 04:49, Marty wrote:

After seeing that it was a clear night, and the moon wasn't
interfering yet, I ran out for another look at Comet Garradd. *I
hadn't seen it since my last effort when it was just creeping away
from Pegasus' nose, and now it was buzzing under the tip of
Sagitta... *I didn't take the time to dark adapt, and while I'm not
nearly as cursed by light pollution as most people, my situation
hasn't gotten any better over the years. *Also, I don't think my eyes
pick up dim objects quite as well as they did when a younger man was
using them. *I studied the chart (http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/)
carefully...
* * *When I got out to look at about 10:00pm CDT, I spent a few
minutes looking around at the constellations and bright "M" objects to
let my eyes adapt just a bit. *Not a bad evening... *66 F, a few
locusts chirping, and clear skies. *Then I swung my binocs up to
Sagitta and took a look. *I found a blur in about the right place, but
not EXACTLY in the right place. *I was a little confused and
frustrated. *I came in and checked the chart again, and then went out
and looked again. *There was the little fuzzball, but still, it wasn't
quite where it should be... *Was I seeing some of the background
confusion in the starclouds of the Milky Way, and missing the comet?
I went back in and checked the chart again... *AH HA... *The tick
marks on the chart weren't for 0 hours Universal Time, but for 13
hours on the 24th and 8 hours on the 25th... *OK, so I'm a better
observer than a chart reader... *THAT'S it... *I'm a better observer
than a chart reader... *That works....

Marty

If the skies are clear tonight (Fri Aug 26), 2009 P1 (Garradd) will be
within 10 arcmins of M71 at around 22:00 UTC, so should be fairly easy
to find. *I've been waiting to image this all week - guess what?.. yes,
raining now and not expected to stop for ~24h (of course.)
--
Rob

Hmmm. *It's supposed to be clear here tonight... *I might drag out the
scope.
* * *BTW... *To be honest, as an old starhopper, I use RA & Dec very
little. *I more often look for triangles, rectangles, "houses," etc,
and then nudge, jump, and hop...

Marty

Starhopper indeed !,in attempting to fit 1465 rotations into 1461 days
via Ra/Dec reasoning you poor fools have less to do with astronomy
than the most indifferent person.Not even the choice to allow Ra/Dec
system to exist within the 365/366 day format thereby allowing daily
and orbital characteristics to be kept separate seems to make any
difference to starhoppers yet you will probably insist that you are
still an astronomer,the same with the astrophotographers or those who
think astronomy is a hobby.

I have never come across people who hated astronomy so much and for no
good reason.

On Aug 26, 7:45*pm, oriel36 wrote:
On Aug 26, 3:07*pm, Marty wrote:









On Aug 26, 5:48*am, Rob wrote:

On 25/08/2011 04:49, Marty wrote:

After seeing that it was a clear night, and the moon wasn't
interfering yet, I ran out for another look at Comet Garradd. *I
hadn't seen it since my last effort when it was just creeping away
from Pegasus' nose, and now it was buzzing under the tip of
Sagitta... *I didn't take the time to dark adapt, and while I'm not
nearly as cursed by light pollution as most people, my situation
hasn't gotten any better over the years. *Also, I don't think my eyes
pick up dim objects quite as well as they did when a younger man was
using them. *I studied the chart (http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/)
carefully...
* * *When I got out to look at about 10:00pm CDT, I spent a few
minutes looking around at the constellations and bright "M" objects to
let my eyes adapt just a bit. *Not a bad evening... *66 F, a few
locusts chirping, and clear skies. *Then I swung my binocs up to
Sagitta and took a look. *I found a blur in about the right place, but
not EXACTLY in the right place. *I was a little confused and
frustrated. *I came in and checked the chart again, and then went out
and looked again. *There was the little fuzzball, but still, it wasn't
quite where it should be... *Was I seeing some of the background
confusion in the starclouds of the Milky Way, and missing the comet?
I went back in and checked the chart again... *AH HA... *The tick
marks on the chart weren't for 0 hours Universal Time, but for 13
hours on the 24th and 8 hours on the 25th... *OK, so I'm a better
observer than a chart reader... *THAT'S it... *I'm a better observer
than a chart reader... *That works....

Marty

If the skies are clear tonight (Fri Aug 26), 2009 P1 (Garradd) will be
within 10 arcmins of M71 at around 22:00 UTC, so should be fairly easy
to find. *I've been waiting to image this all week - guess what?.. yes,
raining now and not expected to stop for ~24h (of course.)
--
Rob

Hmmm. *It's supposed to be clear here tonight... *I might drag out the
scope.
* * *BTW... *To be honest, as an old starhopper, I use RA & Dec very
little. *I more often look for triangles, rectangles, "houses," etc,
and then nudge, jump, and hop...

Marty

Starhopper indeed !,in attempting to fit 1465 rotations into 1461 days
via Ra/Dec reasoning you poor fools have less to do with astronomy
than the most indifferent person.Not even the choice to allow Ra/Dec
system to exist within the 365/366 day format thereby allowing daily
and orbital characteristics to be kept separate seems to make any
difference to starhoppers yet you will probably insist that you are
still an astronomer,the same with the astrophotographers or those who
think astronomy is a hobby.

I have never come across people who hated astronomy so much and for no
good reason.

What a lovely thing our ancestors did by formatting the days to mesh
with the seasonal cycles in using an extra day after every 4 years of
365 days,when transfered to planetary dynamics it works out as a
proportion of 1461 rotations for 4 orbital circuits or 365 1/4
rotations for 1 orbital circuit.

The starhoppers imagine 1465 rotations for the same period and to do
that must require a hatred of astronomy that defies description and in
an era when you have just ventured into space and can look back at the
rotating Earth,there has not been a single person who realizes just
how important it is to get the proportion right.

I guess people lost their souls insofar as no person who is capable of
love in any facet of their lives cannot achieve any depth or feeling
for what our astronomical ancestors achieved and the multi-faceted
astronomical discipline itself.There is not much more to say as cause
and effect cannot be reduced further than one rotation of the Earth
takes one day or 1461 rotations of the Earth takes 1461 days and there
is never any need to insult anyone when they insist in insulting
themselves.

On Aug 26, 7:58*pm, oriel36 wrote:
insulting
themselves.

There is a foul stench of malevolent, religious hypocrisy in here!