Re: [APML] Visual on C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)...

[astropix@att.net (Geoff Powers)]

 Bobby writes:
> What do you think time-wise with the Pentax 165? At f/2.8 I can get decent
> density at 5 min...

 Hey Bobby...

     Wade Earle figured all this out... and fast, too! (thanks Wade ;-) As you also mentioned, manual guiding might be the best solution, especially since this comet has such a high proper motion in declination.

 Chris Cook writes:
> Must be your southern latitude helping out...
> Its not looking like mag 1.0 to me...

 Hey Chris...

     Southern latitude, and over-zealous enthusiasm maybe. <g> My bad... I was so stoked to be seeing it from my light polluted environs, I figured it *had* to be mag 1 to shine through!

 Roland writes:
> Ditto... I saw nothing. I stayed with it until almost 9:00 pm...

 Hey Roland...

     You gave up too soon, perhaps. I saw it again tonight, (more later) and both nights the best views were not until *after* 9:00 PM EDT, from this lat/lon anywho!

 Jason writes:
> Got it from Plano (north of Dallas) tonight 5/4/04. Barely
> visible with 10x50's...

 Hey Jason...

     Got it again tonight (05/04/04) from a better location, both visually and some tripod film shots! Now for the...

 ::::::::::::::::::::::::UPDATE:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 Hey All Following This Thread...

     This evening (05/04/04) I drove to the N.GA. mountains, to one of favorite dark sky spots, Brasstown Bald. The Forest Service gave me access to the road up the summit, and I could drive my car the additional 500' of elevation, to the observation tower, with equipment in tow.

     Granted, this is almost 2 degrees north of my home, but when the surrounding horizon is 500' -- 2500' *below* you, it's about like going 5 degrees south!

     From this vantage point, Q4 was an easy target. It lay about 1 1/2 degrees below Delta Canis Majoris, and about 2 1/2 degrees above Achara. (Epsilon CM) Transparency here has been fantastic the past couple of days... naturally -- the Moon is full! Seeing was great this evening... as soon as the Sun dropped below the horizon, everything was steady as a rock.

     The comet had a much different appearance tonight from last night. The nucleus was wider, and more rounded. The distinct 'V' shape of my first view was 'fuzzed' out tonight. A faint tail approximately two moon-widths (1 degree) spread behind the core. The core itself seemed maybe 1/4 of a degree wide.

     Having 2nd mag Delta CM in the same bino field put it in better perspective... mag 3.5 -- 4.0 is more realistic than my earlier blurb. Still... if that danged ol' Moon hadn't been there, it would have been an easy naked eye object!

     I shot a 24 exposure roll of Fuji 800, from tripod, with a 50mm f1.2 lens, 30 -- 35 seconds each frame. These were taken between about 9:05 and 9:30 EDT. I followed it in my binos until about 9:45... it was still up then, but in the muck.

     With such a short tail and overall small image scale, in addition to it's limited magnitude, I'd say this boy needs some focal length and tracking to make a pretty picture. If I get anything decent from tonight's efforts... I'll post them here first!

     This object will be easier and easier to find, for the next couple of weeks. After that, it will dim rapidly, I imagine. Get out and enjoy it any way you can !!!

 Best...   :o)
     
--
 Geoff

http://home.att.net/~astropix/


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