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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 4377
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Re: C/2007 N3 (Lulin)
12/30/08 09:31 AM Attachment (196 downloads)
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Rev_Aaron,
Thanks for the links. If you don't mind, I'll post my observation here--maybe we can make this the Comet Lulin thread for the next few months. 
I observed C/2007 (Lulin) this morning for the first time. Conditions were cold (30° F/ -1° C) and very windy. It was hard to get the stars on the horizon into focus. I started out about 5:15 AM local time (1015 UT) by walking out into the pasture where I could get an unobstructed view to the ESE with the 12x36 image stabilized binoculars. The comet was about 5° above the horizon but I spent 15 minutes looking and could not spot it. The zodiacal light was fairly bright.
By this time, Scorpius and Libra had risen enough that I could use the telescope set up back at the house. Using the Astroscan at 29x, I found Comet Lulin almost immediately. I pumped up the mag to 37x but with the turbulent atmosphere and low altitude of the comet, the view was not pleasing so I went back to 29x for the sketch (also I could include Beta Sco in the wider fov).
Using the Sidgwick method, I estimated M1= 8.3. The degree of condensation = 2 and the diameter appeared to be ~10'.
Even though the skyglow from the Sun began to intrude by 1130 UT, the comet was at a higher altitude by then and held its own against the brightening sky for a while.
While the comet is still low in the early morning hours, I would recommend any observer having a good chart to find it. Let's hope Comet Lulin fulfills its promise and gives us a great show in the coming months. 
--------------------
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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