· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar General Astronomy >> Beginners Forum Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all) stargazer424 sage Reged: 10/03/05 Loc: Central NJ Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: XwarpfactorX]       #5589398 - 12/26/12 10:07 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   WOW! I didn't know there were any visible comets to target! If I can get out, I'll have to see if I can track it down... I assume an 8" dob will have enough light gathering to pick it up, if I can get it in view? Post Extras:       Kevdog sage Reged: 07/11/12 Loc: Desert Hills, AZ Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: stargazer424]       #5589770 - 12/26/12 01:39 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   If I get a good night, will have to try this. My C11 should show it much better than my LT8 did! If you are not a star hopper, but have Goto then you can lookup the RA and Dec from PlanetDroid on android, enter it as a user object in your mount, then slew to it. (Note, you do have to look it up this way just before you view as it does move quickly). That's how I found 168P a few months ago. I never got a chance, but I was going to download the ephemeris from Meade and load it onto my telescope. Haven't yet had time to figure out how to do that for my Celestron yet (and don't have the connection cable yet). But that way the telescope always knows where it is. Edited by Kevdog (12/26/12 01:41 PM) Post Extras:       CosmoSat scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 07/24/09 Loc: India Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: stargazer424]       #5589776 - 12/26/12 01:44 PM Attachment (11 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   As of the now comet is about 8 mag and can easily be seen in a 8" scope. Tho it might be difficult to view it the next few days with the moon in the sky almost throughout the night. After 30th the comet will be favorably placed for observation before the moon rises and can be viewed after around 8pm in the evening. I hve attached a map but note the time is + 5.5 ahead of UT for each new day marked. Clear Skies! Post Extras:       Dennis_S253 scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 11/22/11 Loc: West Central Florida Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: CosmoSat]       #5590145 - 12/26/12 07:10 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   thans for the heads up. I just downloaded it in Stellarium. Your charts look right on. Maybe it will clear in the next couple nights. Post Extras:       nploop102 member Reged: 12/06/12 Loc: Austin, TX Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: XwarpfactorX]       #5591921 - 12/27/12 10:43 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   C'mon clear skies.... forecast doesn't look good until after the New Year. bummer. Post Extras:       Fuzzyguy sage Reged: 12/21/11 Loc: Colorado/Kansas Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: nploop102]       #5607625 - 01/06/13 12:33 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I logged C/2012 K5 Linear tonight in Taurus. It was around a degree north east of 103 Tau. With averted vision, I could easily see the tail fanning out. I caught it while it was occulting a field star and I watched it for about 20 minutes while it moved around 3-4 minutes of arc. It was moving pretty fast! After about 20 minutes the corrector plate froze up so I put the scope away and went in to warm up in front of the fire. This is the fourth comet I've observed since Garradd in 2011. Not a lot for seasoned comet hunters, but that's one more than I'd seen in the previous 40 years! I hope I can follow this one for a while. Thanks Sat! Post Extras:       CosmoSat scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 07/24/09 Loc: India Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: Fuzzyguy]       #5607803 - 01/06/13 05:54 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I too last observed it on the 3rd when it was about a degree away from the open cluster M36. It has certainly dimmed compared to how bright it was last week. the tail too appears more spread out and shorter. But we could still detect it in the 50mm finderscope. Should be observable in small scopes next week too until the moon sets in.. After that from around the 10th I will be moving my attention to another comet (C/2012 F6 Lemmon) which can be observed from my latitude for a few days before it sails further south. Hoping to get some good views of it. And it seems like this might really turn out be the year of comets! Clear Skies! Post Extras:       Jeff2011 sage Reged: 01/01/13 Loc: Sugar Land, TX Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: CosmoSat]       #5609490 - 01/06/13 11:51 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I saw it the morning of Dec 18th when it was still in the big bear. I was fortunate to be in a dark site. I located it using sky safari and just pointed my red dot finder in the general area and nailed it on my first try. I am glad I had a wide angle eyepiece. Orion Q70 with 2.2 deg fov for my scope. Not a high quality piece but sure has made it easier to find targets. Can't wait for comets panstars and ison. Post Extras:       Fuzzyguy sage Reged: 12/21/11 Loc: Colorado/Kansas Re: A Comet as a challenge for beginners. [Re: Jeff2011]       #5610014 - 01/07/13 11:28 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I viewed it again last night for about half an hour. It was less than a degree south east of Iota Tau. I found it with a finder chart from skyhound.com's comet chaser page. After determining where it was suppose to be at the time I was viewing, I checked the star chart in my new Uranometria All Sky Edition to find the field. It was pretty easy after that even with my .77* EP. Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all) Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 16 registered and 33 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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