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PANSTARRS - one week to go!

laser_jock99

By laser_jock99
in The Astro Lounge

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fredster

fredster

Posted
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blooming snowing here now 8.15am i looked at weather for week maybe wed pm for a peek at if if cloud stayes away.

ditto the weather here too. I hoped we had seen the last of the snow for a while. At the moment Wednesday is showing an outside chance but they said that about Tuesday on yesterdays forecast. So not entirely hopeful.

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knightware2

knightware2

Posted
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I share the weather problems here in the southeastern US. A friend photographed the comet locally on Saturday evening, but my attempt to view it on Sunday evening was thwarted by clouds. I tried to catch a glimpse with 16x70 bins, but no luck. Weather looks better for Tuesday. Hopefully persistence will pay off!

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

Posted
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Mount Teide in Tenerife is 15000ft - but you [removed word] don't want to go there late in the afternoon.

Why's that?

I must admit that the warning signs warning people of wild dogs always un-nerved me a bit to be honest....

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greglloyd

greglloyd

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Just back from my second attempt at PANSTARRS and I bagged it this evening. However, I gotta say it was more out of pure blumming minded "you are not going to beat me' rather than anything else. It's not an easy spot to say the least. I spent 35 mins scanning the horizon from about 6:25pm to 7:00pm and then spotted it very low on the horizon. It was only after 7pm that the sky became dark enough to spot it (still fairly bright right at the horizon). I could see the nucleus / coma which appeared to be around 1st magnitude and a small tail using adverted vision to spot this.

There were pesky clouds low down to the horizon and also haziness. You are looking through the thickest amount of atmosphere possible - all in all it's not an ideal situation really. The window of opportunity for seeing it was actually very small indeed. From when I spotted the comet (very low indeed) I had around 5 mins were it appeared to be getting brighter more more visible before it went down into even thicker haziness right near the horizon. So 10 mins viewing all in all, of which 5 mins had it at the best it was going to get. When I came back home I checked on the Mac what the current altitude of the comet was as it said 1.5 deg!!

So, that's the first spot for me. A bit disappointing so far - but I think it may look better in the coming days once it climbs higher in the sky. Best to consider it a binocular object really and wait for it to climb into a dark sky. I think most of us here in the UK will struggle to ever see this one with the naked eye. It's certainly not the bright comet we may have previously hoped it would be.

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greglloyd

greglloyd

Posted
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p.s. Just the read my post above and it's a bit misleading...

"It was only after 7pm that the sky became dark enough to spot it (still fairly bright right at the horizon). I could see the nucleus / coma which appeared to be around 1st magnitude and a small tail using adverted vision to spot this."

By the above - I meant the sky was still fairly bright right at the horizon - not the comet. Also, I could only see it through binos - never with the naked eye :)

p.s. How do you edit your own posts? Someone is probably going to show me up as a thicky, but I just cannot work it out!!

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Hypernova

Hypernova

Posted
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Tried again this evening but failed to spot it once more despite favourable skies. My viewing spot is rubbish because of a cluttered horizon full of house, there is just a little "window" where I can get below 20 degrees but even with this I failed to spot it. Maybe tomorrow or at SGL 8 if the weather cooperates.

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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Tried and failed tonight- skies were clearing here in Warks and the Western horizon was quite good low down. Saw plenty of planes but no comet and the cold wind got the better of me! Jupiter was nice in the binocular, the moons were widely spaced litte jewels.

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greglloyd

greglloyd

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I could only see the comet in binos from 7pm onwards. And then only for about 10 mins before it got far too low in the hazy horizon. It was only about 2 deg above the horizon by the time it was visible. I would regard it as very challenging to see right now. I could only see the nucleus / coma at first. The tail was only just visible in the binos with adverted vision. Lucky for me, I happened to find it just above and slightly to the right of a distant tree which helped me keep track of it over the 10 mins or so as I didn't watch it constantly.

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mjpfc

mjpfc

Posted
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Its been snowing here for two days, but it is now clearing away to the southwest and blue shies are following up.

Clouds are at the western horison (Low) now, so with a bit of luck it may be clear enough to see this thing, as the air should be relatively haze free behind the snow.

I am heading off to Rocken end (St Catherines down) view-point near the south of the IOW so should get a good West to SW sea horizon with the line of tennyson

down, Low West to Northwest.

Here goes, good luck all.

Mick

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goodricke1

goodricke1

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p.s. How do you edit your own posts? Someone is probably going to show me up as a thicky, but I just cannot work it out!!

For some bizarre reason, it can't be done... on plenty of other fora it seems more or less routine, but not here apparently :confused: :confused:

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