Comet Q4 Eyeball and Camera Views

I imaged C2001 Q4 NEAT at both 530 mm and 50 mm focal lengths at 0312
UT on 12 May, 2004. In addition to the comet images, I have included
simulated views through the C-11 scope and 7x50 binoculars to give you
a feeling for my visual impressions. The imaging setup is also shown.

The comet was easy to find in the binoculars and the C-11 scope. A
slight greenish cast was apparent.

Please take a look.

http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

I welcome comments from everyone. Thanks for looking.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

Hiya Dennis!

Nice images. You did what I didn't that same night, and took a long enough
exposure to try and get some detail in the tail region. I stopped at 120
seconds, a third of what you did. Considering the faintness of the details
in the tail, that definitely made a difference.

I can't say that my visual views matched yours. I used a friend's 80mm
refractor, and an 8-inch f/8 refractor in the nearby observatory. I was
looking from the suburbs so that affects the view, but I didn't detect
anything but a slight elliptical glow around a stellar core. The core was
very apparent using averted vision but less visible otherwise, even in the
8-inch. I do remember the comet being more fan-shaped just a week earlier,
on the 5th. I also saw it visually on the 6th and the 8th, all through
11x80 binoculars. On all three dates a fan-shaped structure was seen with
the stellar core at the head of the fan, with the orientation changing
slightly from ngiht to night.

Tonight (15th) the comet is closest to the Sun, so after this it's receeding
from both the earth (since the 6th) and the Sun, so unless it has an
outburst it'll get slowly fainter. And of course the moon will start
interferring next week.

--
Sincerely,
--- Dave

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A man is a god in ruins.
--- Duke Ellington
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"Dennis Persyk" wrote in message
m...
I imaged C2001 Q4 NEAT at both 530 mm and 50 mm focal lengths at 0312
UT on 12 May, 2004. In addition to the comet images, I have included
simulated views through the C-11 scope and 7x50 binoculars to give you
a feeling for my visual impressions. The imaging setup is also shown.

The comet was easy to find in the binoculars and the C-11 scope. A
slight greenish cast was apparent.

Please take a look.

http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

I welcome comments from everyone. Thanks for looking.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL