Anonymous
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thanks don!!
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 6301
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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I was able to see Comet Maccholz and the Double Cluster simultaneously that night through my 8x42 Celestron Noble binocular.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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CarlosEH
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/19/05
Posts: 3126
Loc: Pembroke Pines, Broward County...
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I made an observation of Comet Machholz (C/2004Q2) on February 1, 2005 at 00:30 U.T. while it was located approximately 6.5 degrees from the famous Double Cluster (NGC 869/884) in the constellation of Perseus. The comet's coma appeared to be elongated in both a northeast (dust tail?) and southeast (ion tail?) direction. The brightest star closest to the comet was HIP13665 (5.56m) to the soutwest. I only wish that the comet had been located closer to the cluster. What a sight that would have been!
Dave-I am glad that you were able to view it as well.
I hope that everyone else obtained a similar view of the event.
Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez
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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 sketch, Carlos!
I took a look at Q2 Machholz tonight (1 Feb) at ~7:30 EST (0030UT 2 Feb) before moonrise under very dark skies with my 10x50 binocs. I estimated that the comet was ~7deg NE of the Double Cluster. It appeared as a very bright fuzzball with a brighter inner coma. Comparing it to the DC (30' each), the outer coma was easily 30' in diameter--much like your drawing shows. No tails were detected.
Best,
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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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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 6301
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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On Tuesday evening I once again observed Comet Machholz with a 15x70 Barska binocular, the 5" f/5 finder scope, and the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain (162 and 202x) at the Naylor Observatory. The transparency was mediocre at best and I was not able to make out the dust tail, let alone the ion tail.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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CarlosEH
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/19/05
Posts: 3126
Loc: Pembroke Pines, Broward County...
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Dave and Michael,
Thank you for the compliments on my observation of the comet adjacent to the Perseus double cluster. It was interesting to make and quite a sight. I normally have not seen the tails and what was actually noted were elongations of the coma and not the actual tails. The best of luck following this interesting comet.
Carlos
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djeber2
sage
Reged: 07/02/04
Posts: 493
Loc: Ohio
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Was able to observe the comet with the dob tonight. Comet was easily visible in viewfinder, and is well placed in the north for observing. No tail visible from my location.
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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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Markus
Postmaster
Reged: 12/26/04
Posts: 5395
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I also saw the comet in my 12" reflector at about 170x on Feb/1st/2005 , and there was ABSOLUTELY NO TAIL. It looked very much like a faint globular cluster.
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Markus
12" GSO SCOPE
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25X100 Skymasters
15X70 Skymasters
Home built Parallelogram Mount
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David Knisely
Postmaster
Reged: 04/19/04
Posts: 6787
Loc: Beatrice, Nebraska
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Quote:
I also saw the comet in my 12" reflector at about 170x on Feb/1st/2005 , and there was ABSOLUTELY NO TAIL. It looked very much like a faint globular cluster.
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Markus
12" GSO SCOPE
I was observing it Tuesday night (2/2/05) and it was visible to the unaided eye, probably with a total magnitude around 4.5 or so. In my NexStar 9.25GPS SCT, it was quite bright and faintly bluish with only the faintest hint of the glow from a tail (probably a degree or less in length). I saw no hint of a tail in my 10x50 binoculars however. The nuclear condensation was nice and stellar though. Clear skies to you.
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David W. Knisely
Hyde Memorial Observatory
http://www.hydeobservatory.info
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trever
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/18/03
Posts: 2695
Loc: North Alabama
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I observed it last night as well. At 9pm central time, it was just outside of Cassiopeia. It was nice and bright and at times could see a point of light twinkling in the area of the nucleus. The area surrounding the twinkle was a tight bright fuzz surrounded by a fainter but much larger coma. A very interesting sight to behold.
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Trever
Coronado PST Solar Telescope
Vixen A80MF 80mm Refractor with Porta Mount
Orange Celestron 8 inch SCT on AS-GT mount
Zhumell 20x80 Astronomical Binoculars
Orion Paragon HD-F2 Tripod
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djeber2
sage
Reged: 07/02/04
Posts: 493
Loc: Ohio
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I was able to take advantage of two very clear nights this weekend. Observed from a dark site outside town, and glimpsed the comet naked eye. I maybe saw the beginnings of the dust tail one of the evenings. Great nights for also observing all of the winter M objects.
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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 finally got to do some observing last night and Machholz was one of the first objects I checked out. I could just barely make out a hint of a dust tail at 48x. The whole thing definitely seemed brighter than 5.0 Mag which is what Orion's "The Sky" predicted it to be.
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