bierbelly
Postmaster
Reged: 01/23/04
Posts: 5443
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Hey, finally got to see it through a sucker hole tonite with my 10x50s! Easy find, even in crummy skies. After having found it with the binocs, I think I could see it visually, but it was hard to tell with the clouds moving by so fast.
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12" DSH
8" f/4 Vega MakNewt
6" MN66
TV85
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Redfish
super member
Reged: 12/09/04
Posts: 176
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I went out yesterday and saw a really faint dot next to M45. I just knew it was Machholz, but I didn't get a chance for another hour to take out the binos, so you'll know what happened. Clouds had moved in. And It wouldn't clear for the rest of the night. 
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3545
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Nice pics, Tony and thanks for posting the info on comet imaging--you too, Carol.
Like many here, I've been under a lot of clouds. The CSC forecast clearing but after checking the sky at 10 PM last night and 1 and 3 AM this morning I gave up and it cleared up sometime between 3 and 630 AM. 
I like what Greyhaven said:
>>>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.<<<
As I type this, I'm hoping it will stay clear for another 10-12 hours. My last view was 3 weeks ago--I'd like to see how it has changed and see it near the Pleiades. Meanwhile, thanks to all for your observations.
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
Edited by Special Ed (01/09/05 12:09 PM)
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djeber2
sage
Reged: 07/02/04
Posts: 493
Loc: Ohio
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Finally the skies cleared for a couple hours last night - first clear skies in about 3 weeks!! 
Able to observe the comet in my 10" dob and 15x70 binoc. The comet wass visible naked eye - mostly with averted vision, sometimes with direct, from my back yard. Comet now located about 5 degrees west of M45. No tail visible from my location.
Also able to use my new bwoptik 30mm ep for the first time, finally!
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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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djeber2
sage
Reged: 07/02/04
Posts: 493
Loc: Ohio
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Finally the skies cleared for a couple hours last night - first clear skies in about 3 weeks!!
Able to observe the comet in my 10" dob and 15x70 binoc. The comet wass visible naked eye - mostly with averted vision, sometimes with direct, from my back yard. Comet now located about 5 degrees west of M45. No tail visible from my location.
Also able to use my new bwoptik 30mm ep for the first time, finally!
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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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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3545
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Hi Everyone,
At the time of this observation, Comet Machholz had already progressed ~4.5 degrees WNW of M45 and could be easily seen with the unaided eye from my dark sky location. I could just put the western edge of the Pleiades on one side and the comet on the other in the FOV of my 10x50 binocs.
At 64x, I felt like I could see the beginnings of two tails as shown in the sketch. The western side of the coma appeared to drop off in brightness fairly abruptly while the eastern side faded more gradually. I confirmed this by moving the comet out of the FOV to the east until just the western edge was visible. Hiding most of the bright coma improved the contrast between the coma's edge and the darkness of space behind it.
I was unable to detect the stellar-like core but the transparency, which was average at the start of the session, had deteriorated badly by the end. To the unaided eye the sky still looked clear, but through the scope things got very dim.
The sketch can be seen here .
Regards,
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11652
Loc: Denham Springs, LA
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I spotted Machholz again the other night in my 8". In my light-polluted skies, I still souldn't see a tail. The core was extremely bright, though.
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3545
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Quote:
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! 
Hi Carol,
I thought you might like this.
Mike Begbie, an observer in Zimbabwe with 25 years experience made this sketch of Machholz showing an ion tail "disconnection" event. This was caused by a coronal mass ejection(CME) breaking off the tail as it sped by on its way to Earth to cause the aurora you saw. According to Mike, the old tail is blown away by the solar wind but a new tail quickly forms.
You may have to register with Yahoo before you can see the sketch--I hope this link works--I haven't had too much luck with tinyurls lately. This is very cool. 
http://tinyurl.com/5fn5p
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Ha! The snow quit, the clouds FINALLY cleared away, and I went out and caught the comet, woo-hoo! Saw the nucleus clearly, lots of green haze, no tail. Actually, I didn't think it was that exciting, and neither did my kids. Oh, well. Still, sometimes the fun is in just finding the object and thinking about how cool it is, rather than how cool or un-cool it looks (like the Crab Nebula -- great history, underwhelming view). I finally had to go in 'cause it was too darn COLD!! Can't wait for summer viewing.
TTFN
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Carol L
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 5880
Loc: Tomahawk, WI 45N//89W
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Quote:
Quote:
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!
Hi Carol,
I thought you might like this.
Mike Begbie, an observer in Zimbabwe with 25 years experience made this sketch of Machholz showing an ion tail "disconnection" event. This was caused by a coronal mass ejection(CME) breaking off the tail as it sped by on its way to Earth to cause the aurora you saw. According to Mike, the old tail is blown away by the solar wind but a new tail quickly forms.
You may have to register with Yahoo before you can see the sketch--I hope this link works--I haven't had too much luck with tinyurls lately. This is very cool.
http://tinyurl.com/5fn5p
Another nice sketch, Michael! 
No luck here with tinyurl either.. 404 page not found [wonder if they're re-doing something]. I'm registered at Yahoo.. what Group/post# is it? This I gotta see.. thanks for letting me know. 
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 *Step-by-Step Lunar Sketching*
CN Gallery
Photo Gallery
8"SCT ~ 120achro ~ 90Mak ~ 80ST ~ 11x70s ~ 22x100s
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3545
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
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!
Hi Carol,
I thought you might like this.
Mike Begbie, an observer in Zimbabwe with 25 years experience made this sketch of Machholz showing an ion tail "disconnection" event. This was caused by a coronal mass ejection(CME) breaking off the tail as it sped by on its way to Earth to cause the aurora you saw. According to Mike, the old tail is blown away by the solar wind but a new tail quickly forms.
You may have to register with Yahoo before you can see the sketch--I hope this link works--I haven't had too much luck with tinyurls lately. This is very cool.
http://tinyurl.com/5fn5p
Another nice sketch, Michael!
No luck here with tinyurl either.. 404 page not found [wonder if they're re-doing something]. I'm registered at Yahoo.. what Group/post# is it? This I gotta see.. thanks for letting me know.
Mike's sketch is in the Yahoo Astrosketch group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/astrosketch/
Look for message #807. He has a detailed explanation of the event in a subsequent message.
Also, talented imager Stefan Seip caught the event and ended up having it selected for this APOD .
Glad you liked my sketch.
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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My six year daughter's sketch from 2 nights ago.
http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2282
I'm so proud!
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Carol L
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 5880
Loc: Tomahawk, WI 45N//89W
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Quote:
Mike's sketch is in the Yahoo Astrosketch group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/astrosketch/
Look for message #807. He has a detailed explanation of the event in a subsequent message.
Also, talented imager Stefan Seip caught the event and ended up having it selected for this APOD .
Glad you liked my sketch.
Thanks for the info Michael, Mr. Begbie he sure caught Machholz at the right time.
The APOD image is the best I've seen yet.. what detail!
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*Step-by-Step Lunar Sketching*
CN Gallery
Photo Gallery
8"SCT ~ 120achro ~ 90Mak ~ 80ST ~ 11x70s ~ 22x100s
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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I had a sucker hole last night from our beautiful mag 4.5 skies, and saw it with Octavian. There was a hint of a tail to be seen (not going beyond the fov, but obviously there was the beginning of the tail).
What I did not see was the "X" pattern people have been reporting the past couple of days. Has the feature vanished, or is it that I would need extra dark skies and a larger scope?
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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jwaldo
Smart Mime
Reged: 04/26/04
Posts: 3506
Loc: SoCal
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While observing I *think* I saw two tails. One seemed to be pointing SW, and the other to the ESE. I think. After 3 years I still can't figure out directions in my scope
Did I see the tails, or was it just averted imagination?
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-Jim
DHQ 8"
C102 w/ upgraded focuser
ZenithStar 66 ED Triplet
DSH 6"
Transporter 70
Sears 60/900mm
10x50's & assorted other binos
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3545
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Quote:
Quote:
Mike's sketch is in the Yahoo Astrosketch group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/astrosketch/
Look for message #807. He has a detailed explanation of the event in a subsequent message.
Also, talented imager Stefan Seip caught the event and ended up having it selected for this APOD .
Glad you liked my sketch.
Thanks for the info Michael, Mr. Begbie he sure caught Machholz at the right time.
The APOD image is the best I've seen yet.. what detail!
Stefan's pic is outstanding--and you can clearly see the thicker "old" ion tail out in the Pleiades and the much thinner "new" tail forming from the coma, just as in Mike's drawing.
I don't know if Mike got some kind of heads up to look for this phenomenon or if he knew to look because of the flare/CME event--he is an experienced observer, though.
BTW, I described it wrong when I said that the CME broke the tail as it sped by on its way to Earth. Since we are between the Sun and Machholz, the CME had to speed by here first on its way to the comet. I was trying to visualize things in three dimensions (always a fun exercise) when I realized my error.
Clear skies (someday),
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
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Jeremy Perez
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/12/04
Posts: 1677
Loc: Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
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Quote:
My six year daughter's sketch from 2 nights ago.
http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2282
I'm so proud!
Jack, that's excellent! Keep on encouraging her. Thanks for sharing her sketch 
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Orion SVP 6LT (6" f/8 Newt) || Orion XT8 (8" f/6 Newt) || 15x70 Oberwerk Binoculars
The Belt Of Venus || Astro-Sketch Gallery || Astro-Sketching Resources || Astro-Photo Gallery
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jwaldo
Smart Mime
Reged: 04/26/04
Posts: 3506
Loc: SoCal
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*sigh*
I was going to try to confirm those tails tonight, but I got more clouds
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-Jim
DHQ 8"
C102 w/ upgraded focuser
ZenithStar 66 ED Triplet
DSH 6"
Transporter 70
Sears 60/900mm
10x50's & assorted other binos
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Redfish
super member
Reged: 12/09/04
Posts: 176
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It was clear tonight at my place. I could see machholz with the naked eye, but only very faint. With binos the object was very easy to see and recognize. In my 12" the image remained a fuzzy spot with a bright core. No tails, no colors. Pity, it was hardly anything spectacular. I could see it move in about 1 hour time. It was very close to a very faint star, and noticable it was now on the other side
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djeber2
sage
Reged: 07/02/04
Posts: 493
Loc: Ohio
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Very clear skies tonight, and I was able to get out to a site outside town (Mag 5 or so) with the Dob. I thought I saw a hint of the tail. Fairly easy naked eye, even with direct vision from this site. Able to brave the cold weather for about 1.5 hours.
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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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