March 17, 2020: Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) bagged

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It was reasonably clear (despite the forecast for clouds) but slowly becoming hazier. I set up the Meade SN6 6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton on my old Great Polaris mount, with the Nagler 31 mm T5 yielding about 25x magnifcation at a FOV of 3.34 deg, ideal for comet hunting. I first had a quick look at Venus and the Pleiades, and then swung over to M81 and M82. Star hopping with an EQ mount at high declination is always tricky, especially because the SN6 has a straight-through, inverted-image (STII?) 10x50 finder. I therefore installed the ST80 as a 16x80 mega finder, and managed to pick up the galaxies fairly easily. They weren't nearly as bright as last night, showing that the transparency wasn't ideal. I star hopped to the location of the comet. Here I constantly thought I spotted a little fuzzy, very diffuse ball, in the correct location, but so difficult that I wondered if it was either some reflection in the optics, or "averted imagination". I therefore switched to the Nagler 22 mm T4, and spotted  the same diffuse glow in the right location once more. Switching back to the 31T5 showed it stubbornly in the same place, so I consider that C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) bagged. On a better night, or at a better location I do not doubt this  would be a lot easier. Just as a sanity check I swung over to Leo, to have a go at M65 and M66. The latter was visible, but M65 was surprisingly hard, showing how much hazier the sky had become. Still, the SN6 showed its worth as a wide field scope. Next time I might well take it to a dark spot and set it up where it can really shine.

Still, chuffed to have seen my 26th comet

[Pete Presland]

Excellent report Michael, some very useful info there for everyone. Hopefully some clear skies soon in the UK.

[Owmuchonomy]

Picked it up tonight using the Bresser 127 Mak and the ES 20mm 82’.  An almost round core with averted vision only. No tail. I used Sky Safari Pro through my AzGti. It was close but it placed it slightly West of where observed. It helps being near the zenith. I then spent time on brighter objects, M3 looking particularly splendid through the Mak.