sienarot
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/18/03
Posts: 708
Loc: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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I finally found it! The skies weren't being too friendly over the Christmas holidays, so I haven't had a chance to try for it until tonight, but it was pretty neat to find! Is it possible to see the tail with the 120ST? That's what I used tonight, however there were lights coming from the house, so tonight's viewing wasn't under the best circumstances. I'm definitely going to try for it again soon.
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Derrick
Sky-Watcher 80ED f/7.5 Refractor
Celestron C8 SCT f/10 SCT
Canon EOS 20D
Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11652
Loc: Denham Springs, LA
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I've been wanting to see the comet again, but it's been ugly & overcast here (as usual). Grrr....
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15799
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Bill I haven't been able to catch it at all yet... maybe this weekend, hopefully I will be able to
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11652
Loc: Denham Springs, LA
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Yeah, I'm hoping for some observing time this weekend.
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Carol L
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 5880
Loc: Tomahawk, WI 45N//89W
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Quote:
...you can either track the comet for detail
...or track the stars
Now I gotcha. 
I centered the comet's core in a 5mm ep (406x) and made small adjustments while the shutter was open. I'm guessing the online images containing star trails were zoomed in a lot closer than I was. 
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Tonk
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/19/04
Posts: 3584
Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N
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You can do both at the same time (well sort of!). If you take a largish stack (say 10 to 20) of images of say 2 to 4 minutes each of Machholz then you can combine the images either registered on field stars OR registered on the comet like so:
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Televue 85, GM-8/Gemini, Canon 10D
Coronado SM60/BF10, Baader Herschel Wedge
Leeds Sky Clock Ripon Sky Clock
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Tonk
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/19/04
Posts: 3584
Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N
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Above was stacked on field stars - comet tails are blurred.
To get tail detail take the same image stack and do on nucleus to see finer tail detail:
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Televue 85, GM-8/Gemini, Canon 10D
Coronado SM60/BF10, Baader Herschel Wedge
Leeds Sky Clock Ripon Sky Clock
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Tonk
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/19/04
Posts: 3584
Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N
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The above photo shows that on 26th we were very very close to the orbital plane of the comet as the dust tail (at 4/5 o'clock) and the two ion tail streams (10/11 o'clock) are opposed. We are looking head on at the comet and the tails are lying in the comet orbital plane.
Right now (6th Jan) the comet has risen above the plane of earths orbit and earth in turn is now some distance away from the comets orbital plane allowing us to see the ion and dust tails a lttle more side on. The perspective angle between the tails has now decreased.
Its been fascinating watching the comets tails mimic the hands of a clock as we swung by the comet. The above pic is my "6 o'clock" one from the sequence I'm creating.
Tonk - hooked on comets
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Televue 85, GM-8/Gemini, Canon 10D
Coronado SM60/BF10, Baader Herschel Wedge
Leeds Sky Clock Ripon Sky Clock
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moynihan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/22/03
Posts: 1517
Loc: Wisconsin
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Wow........... really pretty tonight in binoculars with the cluster in the same field!
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"Gosh, you've... really got some nice toys here"
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I briefly saw the comet tonight for the first time with the binoculars, at 6:10 pm. Went in, made dinner, came back out at 6:50 -- solid cloud cover. 
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I went outside on a mission to observe it tonight, in windy weather (I'm just glad there were no clouds ). I must say that in my 5" telescope, it was a bit disapointing.. Most of the fun was locating it!
I had to tow in my 7x35 binoculars to locate it first so I could use the laser finder to point the telescope. I tried using a star map but there were far more stars visible than on the map, and being not very experienced it was impossible for me to go from the pleiades to machholz..
Anyway it was just a fuzzy blob, no tail visible at all. The photo's I've seen here are much more detailed than what I could see with visually. I didn't see any color neither. That said, it was easily visible with both the binoculars and (eventually) my telescope. With the naked eye I couldn't see it but light pollution is pretty bad over here.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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After a winter storm the past two days deposited a foot of snow on the ground, tonight the sky cleared and allowed a naked eye sighting of comet Machholz, about 3 degrees below the Pleiades. The view in 10x50 binos did not reveal tail(s). However, by this time the comet was getting lower in the west. Lately the clouds have been so persistent, tonight was my first view of the comet in weeks.
Bill in WI
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 6301
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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I finally had another look at Comet Machholz early Friday morning after days of unrelenting clouds and rain. My 8x42 Celestron Nobles gave a fine view of M45 and the comet.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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Jeremy Perez
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/12/04
Posts: 1677
Loc: Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
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What a sight. It's right up on the Pleiades, and the clouds gave way long enough for some pictures.
Processing out the light pollution is doing murder to the tails so far, but here's one shot. Boy am I going to miss this comet.
Machholz & Pleiades (75K)
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Finally got another peek at this one when the skies cleared out last night (Toronto, Ontario) after a week and a half of persistent cloud cover. Very pretty sitting just below the Pleiades. Not as bright as Hyakutake (1996) or Hale-Bopp (1997), those were brilliant naked-eye comets complete with obvious tails despite the big-city night glow, but still the best I've seen since. Hopefully the clouds will stay away again tonight so I can attempt a couple of shots.
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Greyhaven
super member
Reged: 05/11/04
Posts: 185
Loc: Greater downtown Maine
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I was so pleased this evening when for the first time in what seemed like a month, that night, clear skies and day off from work formed a rare triple conjunction of astronomical proportions. Comet Machholz fell victim to my 7x50 binos.
The wide field view from my small binos really let me enjoy the seven sisters and the comet in one wonderful scan, just a hint of a tail was visible (that might have been more wishful tail that an actual one).
The cold New England temperture and cloudy weather have put a serious dent in any real viewing. I'm sure glad you guys are here to supply my much needed astronomical fix, I can visit here and share your stories and great photos and feel like I'm still in touch with the night sky. 
Thanks
Be Well
Grey
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Greyhaven
Celestron 5i
DSH12
ToUcam pro ll
Star Hoc 90
kodak cx 4230 digital
bushnell 7x50
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Skies finally cleared up here so I went out for a quick look and found it quite easily in my 10x50s, right below Pleiades. I could actually just make it out naked eye as a hazy patch after knowing where to look. I couldn't make out the tail and it resembled a large, bright globular cluster. It is supposed to be clear tommorrow night and I'm looking forward to putting the scope on it.
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Carol L
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 5880
Loc: Tomahawk, WI 45N//89W
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They sure did look nice! 
I set up the scope about 1/2 hour after sunset for piggyback shots but had to wait until a small, pesky cirrus cloud moved off of Machholz/Pleiades. 
After it moved/faded, I turned towards the truck to jot down the time I opened the shutter and holy smokes, there was an Auroral display going on behind me! The northern horizon had three diffuse mint green bands, and at least one weak beam shot up for about 30 seconds. The pesky cloud on Machholz/Pleiades wasn't a cloud after all.. it was an Auroral patch and what a shot it would have made!
Getting back to Machholz.. the transparency wasn't too good and I only caught a very faint averted glimpse of the ion tail through the 8"SCT at 50x (40mmep) and none at all using the 11x70 binos.
After taking my one and only picture, the sky totally clouded over in less than 10 minutes and promptly began snowing on me.  That's a first.
Btw Jeremy.. nice shot! 
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*Step-by-Step Lunar Sketching*
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Photo Gallery
8"SCT ~ 120achro ~ 90Mak ~ 80ST ~ 11x70s ~ 22x100s
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djeber2
sage
Reged: 07/02/04
Posts: 493
Loc: Ohio
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great Photos!!!.........I hope to actually see the comet again soon - current forecast is "mostly cloudy" for Sunday, which is a big weather improvement over what we have had the last 2-3 weeks.
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Don
1 Dob: Hardin DSH10
4 Small scopes: Celestron ED80, Meade 114NT/500 4.5", Orion 102 Mak, Orion 100mm Astroview
2 Classic Scopes: 4.25" Edmunds reflector, Sears 60mm Discovery
4 Binoculars: 15x70 Celestron skymaster, 10x42 Celestron Regal, 8x40 Nikon Action, 10x50 Orion Binoculars
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I put the XT8 on it tonight and it was much brighter than I observed with the binocs. The core was very distinct and glow around it was large. As much as I wanted to, I could just not convince myself that I could see the tail. Some unexpected clouds just rolled in, so if they break tonight I will go look at it some more.
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