Comet Macholz

[pscot]

First spotted last August by an amateur observer, the comet has been visible with binoculars for the last month or so. January is said to be prime viewing time with the comet rising through Taurus up past the Pleiades (follow Orion's arrow). Share and compare observations here. Pictures would be awesome.

[UrbScotty]

1. Where in the night sky and when would be a good time to see it? (nt)

[pmbryant]

2. More info

Hopefully the info at these links can help you out:

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1414_1.asp

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1396_1.asp

--Peter

[pscot]

3. If you can see the constellation Orion

you can see the comet. By 9 pm eastern Orion should be high in the south eastern sky. He's the gaudiest thing up there. You notice the three bright stars of the belt, then the sword. He's pulling a bow. Follow the flight of his arrow about two handsbreadths across the sky and you come to a jewel like cluster of nine stars, the Pleiades. The comet is to the south and east of the Pleiades. On the 6th and 7th it will be right next to the Pleiades. It will move northward all winter and spring, past Polaris and the Big Dipper 'til it fades out. I looked at it last night with a pair of binoculars. I couldn't really see a tail. It was just a big, softly glowing fuzzball. Looks more like a nebula than a star.

[NMDemDist2]

4. hubby has been tracking it in his 10" Dob when he can get a clear

sky

[ThoughtCriminal]

5. Is the sky ever going to clear?

This normally happens when I buy a new scope or eyepiece. Works better than any rain dance every time.

[NMDemDist2]

6. LOL yes you're right, he got a new eyepiece for Xmas

now that you mention it

poor guy he's going crazy

[pscot]

7. I bought a new scope last August

we had the wettest August in 20 years. There must be a special codicil of Murphy's law just for amateur star gazers.

[pmbryant]

8. Apparently, the next week or two is the best time to look for this comet

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1423_1.asp

From Sky and Telescope magazine:

Comet Machholz, C/2004 Q2, is entering its glory days. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, all the circumstances are at their best in the first half of January 2005. The Moon is conveniently approaching new phase just as the comet shines at its brightest and makes its closest approach to Earth. And to add to the fun, the comet is traversing one of the best-known and best-loved areas in the night sky, passing 2° west of the Pleiades on the night of January 7th (see "Comet Machholz in the Evening Sky").

The northeastern US has been suffering from a long cloudy spell, but a brief break on the evening of January 1st allowed many Sky & Telescope editors to view the comet. Editor in chief Rick Fienberg spotted it from his home within walking distance of downtown Boston using only his eyeglasses for optical aid, but he wasn’t completely sure that he had the right target until he viewed it through binoculars.

Observing from the Boston suburbs that same night, I found Comet Machholz to be an easy naked-eye target, slightly brighter and distinctly more condensed than either the Andromeda Galaxy or the Double Cluster in Perseus. At first glance through my 7-inch reflector, the comet seemed extremely bright but nearly featureless — an almost stellar nucleus surrounded by a bright coma some 10 arcminutes across. On closer inspection, it was apparent that the coma had a fairly sharp western edge but trailed off vaguely well beyond the 5-arcminute radius in all other directions. And scanning the area with averted vision at 120x, I saw faint extensions about a half-degree long to the northeast and slightly west of south, matching the positions of the ion tail and the dust tail, respectively. Observers under dark skies have reported that the dust tail is fairly easy to see, extending perhaps 2°, but the ion tail is much more elusive. To our knowledge, no visual observers have traced the ion tail to anything like the 6° length shown in photographs.

...

[ThoughtCriminal]

9. Score!

Finally cleared enough to spot with naked eye tonight. Used binoculars to locate it first.

[Name removed]

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