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Comet 46P /Wirtanen

BinocularSky

By BinocularSky
in Observing - with Binoculars

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Pete Presland

Pete Presland

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Posted
7 hours ago, BinocularSky said:

Comet 46P/Wirtanen is now easy in 6.5x32 binoculars and trivially obvious in 10x50. Take a look! As I write, it is just below Pi Ceti.

I did have a 1st attempt last night. A mixture of cloud, car headlights and wind blowing my finder charts in to the mud/under my feet, meant it was an epic fail ?

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mcrowle

mcrowle

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I saw the comet with the help of charts last Thursday (29 Nov), via 7 x 50.

However, by last night it was slighter higher and brighter and very obvious in 7 x 50s after a quick sweep of the area - no reference to its charted position required ?. It was a wonderful, big misty blob below Pi Ceti, and I kept looking, off and on, until the area disappeared behind the neighbour's wall. an hour or so later.

Regards, Mike.

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Buzzard75

Buzzard75

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I need to get out of town to look for it apparently. Last night I was using my 10x42 Steiners and if I didn't know exactly where it was using my phone app, I would have missed it completely. What sort of skies do you all have that it's so obvious?

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BinocularSky

BinocularSky

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1 hour ago, Buzzard75 said:

I need to get out of town to look for it apparently. Last night I was using my 10x42 Steiners and if I didn't know exactly where it was using my phone app, I would have missed it completely. What sort of skies do you all have that it's so obvious?

I too have "Bortle 4" skies according to Clear Outside. I've done SQM readings and, when it looks pretty transparent, they have ranged from 20.36 to 21.03 mag/arcsec^2 at zenith, but Bournemouth, Poole, Salisbury, Fawley & Ringwood ruin my horizons (not that I can see them from home, but... ?

Last night was "middling"; a bit of cloud about, but reasonably transparent. When I was looking at the comet, I could see 5th mag stars (naked eye) in the comet's region after a couple of minutes dark adaptation (eg Eps Ceti)

HTH

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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Don't know what my sky measures but I could only get occasional glimpses of those 2 Sadr xxxx stars naked eye, star hopped from Rigel to Zaurak, the only plainly visible star nearby, then scanned around with bins in the general area but still tricky to find with all the passing cloud.

Dave

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Got it just now with my Helios LightQuest 16x80 binoculars, northeast of pi Ceti. I couldn't spot them from near my home, where the city lights and low altitude made spotting even Mira Ceti impossible with the naked eye. I drove to an area south of the city, with most of the city lights behind me. The skies were still hazy, but I could see an extended, elongated hazy object northeast of pi Ceti repeatedly, right were the comet should currently be according to the charts. I could repeat the observation a few times, although it did get harder, as low clouds moved in. Still, comet 22 bagged! Should the skies clear again, I hope to have another go when it is higher in the sky.

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BinocularSky

BinocularSky

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On my way home last night, the sky over the New Forest was unexpectedly transparent (fog had been forecast), so I stopped off at the delightfully named Deadman Hill to enjoy what the sky had to show. Comet 46P was visible, only just, and with averted vision, to the naked eye (those with younger eyes may well find it easier). Huge in 10x50 binoculars.

But yay! For some of us at least, we have a naked-eye comet.

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RodexMtl

RodexMtl

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Thank you for the update!

Here in Montreal, between polar cold and a week of cloudy nights, I have not had a chance to see the comet. It is possible there is a window of opportunity this weekend, together with Geminids, it could be a great night. I'll post a report if I can make it.

I'm looking forward to taking my 10x50 binoculars and enjoy the view!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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An unexpected early Christmas gift of 10 minutes under clear skies, before the moon rose, with my 10x50s. Wirtanen is now in Auriga. Coming down and left from Capella it shows as a large hazy patch. Closer inspection shows the brighter core. This from approximately 19 SQM skies. 

Quixk tour of M38, M36 and then M37. Onto the Pleiades, Hyades and then all the way up to see Andromeda (M31). Even managed M81/M82 despite them being relatively low. Finished up with Kemble’s cascade. The delicate line of stars looks much better in the widefield of the bins compared to the close up with the dob. 

No sign of Santa despite an extensive search. Merry Christmas everyone! 

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Arcturus D

Arcturus D

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On 11/12/2018 at 13:00, BinocularSky said:

On my way home last night, the sky over the New Forest was unexpectedly transparent (fog had been forecast), so I stopped off at the delightfully named Deadman Hill to enjoy what the sky had to show. Comet 46P was visible, only just, and with averted vision, to the naked eye (those with younger eyes may well find it easier). Huge in 10x50 binoculars.

But yay! For some of us at least, we have a naked-eye comet.

Tonight I also managed to see 46p with naked eye averted vision. A faint, but clear blob was in my peripheral vision, whilst directly looking at Haedus ii.

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andrew63

andrew63

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A New Year look in 10x50s and the comet is still reasonable bright, in good conditions.  It's in a sparse area for bright stars in Lynx, but found it with a brief scan.  I had a look at the clusters in Auriga for comparison and for size and brightness I thought it was very similar M38.  A nice start to the year!

andrew

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chiltonstar

chiltonstar

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13 hours ago, andrew63 said:

A New Year look in 10x50s and the comet is still reasonable bright, in good conditions.  It's in a sparse area for bright stars in Lynx, but found it with a brief scan.  I had a look at the clusters in Auriga for comparison and for size and brightness I thought it was very similar M38.  A nice start to the year!

andrew

Certainly easily visible in my 15x70s last night, despite all the multicoloured LP from Xmas lights. Fainter though than 2 weeks ago I think.

Chris

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