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Comet (Comet, est. mag 3.5, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 13.1-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Mon May 17 01:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 997
Last night, my friends Mike Dzubaty, Steve Borer and I Looked at Comet neat in Mike's 13.1" dob. We had no trouble seeing a very short dust tail and a much longer gas tail. It was an outstanding view. Inside the comets head, there was a bright starlike point. It was surrounded by a large area of fuzziness. We also observed M13, M51, M57, M4, M65, and M66.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 10, est. to be in Cygnus)
Observer: Giorgos Koronis (e-mail: giorgos.koronis@lies.com)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Kalamata, Greece
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Fri May 14 10:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 996
Playing with the program HNsky I found that cometC/2003 K4 (Linear) was in Cygnus.It had a magnitude of 9 so I decided to go for it.Sweeping around the area shown by the HNsky with my 8" f/4.5 homemade dob equiped with a meade SWA 18mm (51x) I spotted it.It was in the field of a nice double consisting of two white stars.Checking Burnham's I found that it was the double star Struve 2758.The comet itself was small and very faint, perhaps fainter than the published magnitude of 9.No tail was visible.It was better seen with averted vision thru a 10mm plossl (91x).
Comet (Comet, est. mag 3.5, est. to be in Canis Minor)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed May 12 01:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 994
Tonight, my two friends, Mike Dzubaty, Steve Borer and I finally got to observe comet Neat under totaly clear skies. I was amazed at the size of the comet's head. It was very large and fuzzy. The tail looked to be only about a quarter of a degree long. All three of us were able to glimpse the comet with our naked eyes.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 3.5, est. to be in Canis Minor)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon May 10 01:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 992
Tonight, I observerd Comet Neat C/2001 Q4 with my 10X50 binoculars. There were high thin clouds when I observed the comet. The comet had a fuzzy look to it, but there was a bright point of light in the center of the comet's head. Because of the clouds, I was not able to see the comets tail. I did glimpse the comet once with just my naked eyes.
Comet (Comet, est. to be in Pegasus)
Observer: Pablo Vazquez (e-mail: llavi01@yahoo.com, web: http://home.comcast.net/~llavi1/Pablos_Astronomy_page.htm)
Instrument: 8-inch other Location: Harleysville, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Tue Feb 17 00:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 939
I looked at comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) lat night from my home. Comet was dificult to see with a pair of 10x50 binoculars. Not even sure if I could make it out at all from where I was. I used my Mead LX200(8in) at about 125x and was able to see it. Not much detail in it though only some condensation visible and hardly any details of the coma or nucleous. I didn't see a tail. I think it was because of the location I was observing from.
Comet (Comet, est. to be in Pegasus, Est. RaDec 00h12, +14d)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Tue Feb 17 00:25:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 940
I had the opportunity to observe Comet LINEAR T7 from the ASH Naylor Observatory near Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening from 0:25 to ~1:10 UT (2004/2/17). The skies were initially fairly clear and transparent but high clouds eventually entered the scene. Tthe tail that I had first seen two Sundays ago was markedly longer and at times I thought I saw a bifurcation. A stellar pseudonucleus seemed to be present. The 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain was used at magnifications of 118, 144, 162, 202, 231, and 259x with 202x providing the best view of the comet.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~7.4, est. to be in Pegasus, Est. RaDec 00h17m, +15d34')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Mon Feb 9 01:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 938
I observed Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) on Sunday evening prior to moonrise using the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain and a 5" f/5 refractor, the finder scope for the 17". A short tail was definitely visible. There was a distinct condensation within the largish coma. I used magnifications of 118, 162, 202, and 259x with 162x providing the best overall view. Conditions were good and the limiting magnitude was approximately 5.0 at the time. This was the first time that I was able to actually see the comet through the finder scope.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 9th, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 2h58m, +36d05')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Dec 3 06:45:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 919
On a very chilly Wednesday morning I observed C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) from 6:45 to 7:30 UT with magnifications ranging from 118x to 259x using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory. The comet had a bright stellar pseudonucleus surrounded by an inner condensation and an irregular outer coma. I also noted a short tail with averted vision. The comet's motion was readily apparent during that period.Comet LINEAR T7 was visible but just barely through the 5" /5 finder scope at 25x.Much earlier, a calendar day as a matter of fact, I tried to catch a final look at Comet 2P/Encke without success. After visiting a few bright deep-sky objects I observed the Moon through fleeting clouds and under somewhat turbulent skies. Rupes Recta and the area encompassing Eratosthenes, Montes Apenninus, and Archimedes captured my interest. Mars at 259x was distinctly gibbous and tiny compared to its days of glory last August.My views of Saturn at 118 to 202x were not as good as the night before when several pastel shades were displayed but they did have their moments. The C Ring wasn't particularly hard to see. Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, and Rhea bracketed the Ringed Planet while Titan kept its distance.Asteroid 1 Ceres was easily swept up at 162x as it headed north westward towards Pollux.I stayed in the French Dome long enough to watch Io be eclipsed by Jupiter at 9:28 UT.Other celestial objects that met my telescopically enhanced gaze through the course of the session included M38, M36, M37, Rigel, M42, M43, M78, W Orionis, M76, M103, M34, the Double Cluster, Stock 2 (which was quite nice through the 5" at 25x), NGC 957, M52 and nearby Czernik 43, and Eta Persei. I used 162x for most of these observations.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 7.5, est. to be in Vulpecula)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Nov 26 00:15:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 917
Tonight, my friends Joe Cseh, Mike Dzubaty, Steve Borer and I took a ride to a local soccer field with our 10X50 binoculars to try to observe Comet 2P/ Encke. Waves of high thin clouds made viewing the comet difficult but not impossible. Comet Encke looked like a small round fuzz ball about four or five times the size of a star. The Cirrus clouds prevented us from seeing any details such as a tail. We tried to estimate the magnitude when the clouds were at their thinnest.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~7th, est. to be in Vulpecula)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 14.5-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Fri Nov 21 00:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 916
From a dark site in central Pennsylvania's Tuscarora State Forest on Thursday night (~00:30 UT 2003/11/21) I swept up the periodic comet 2P/Encke rather easily with my 101mm Tele Vue refractor working at 15x (35mm Tele Vue Panoptic). The comet was roughly between M27 and Collinder 399 at the time. I also used powers of 32 (17mm Tele Vue Nagler type 4) and 60x (9mm Tele Vue Nagler type 6). Through my friend Tony Donnangelo's 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob at magnifications ranging from 46 (40mm Meade SWA) to 203x (9mm Nagler type 6) 2P/Encke appeared as a very large and diffuse fan-shaped glow. The best view was at 107x (17mm Nagler type 4). Comet Encke was also clearly visible through my Celestron 20x80's. We both suspected seeing it through Tony's Celestron Ultima 7x50's.We also observed C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) and C/2001 HT50 (LINEAR-NEAT) with Tony's Starmaster. Comet LINEAR T7 was fairly bright with a condensed coma and perhaps a hint of a tail. Comet LINEAR-NEAT HT50 was very dim and quite small and looked much the same as it had a month ago.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 7.1, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 4h00m, +37d48m)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Nov 18 02:45:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 911
I observed Comet LINEAR T7 on Tuesday night from the ASH Naylor Observatory using a 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 162, 202, and 232x. Its coma was irregular in shape and consistency, with a fairly strong central condensation. Although the transparency was mediocre, the seventh magnitude comet was seen rather easily.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 9.6, est. to be in Leo, Est. RaDec 11h00m, +10d11')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Thu Jul 17 01:40:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 841
I was able to observe C/2002 O7 (LINEAR) during astronomical twilight using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory. The comet, which was listed as being magnitude 9.6, was extremely faint and required averted vision and jogging the telescope to be seen at all. It was located low in the southwest near the mid-section of Leo at 11h00m, +10d11'. Magnifications used were 162, 202, and 259x. Prior to that I saw another horizon-hugging shallow-sky object that will soon be gone from view. Prismatic dispersion made old Jove even more colorful than normal. At 03:19 UT a bright Iridium flare (Iridium 57) took place in the southwest. Just afterward a rather bright meteor flashed through Ophiuchus. Before taking my leave I watched the Moon and nearby Mars rise in the east. At ~08:00 UT I took a look at the conjunction of those two denizens of the solar system with my Celestron 20x80's.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 5.5, est. to be in Pegasus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Feb 6 00:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 775
Tonight, I took my 10x50 binoculars to the local soccer field to observe Comet Neat. The comets shape seems to have stretched out from last weeks roundish shape. The comet had a wispy tail that appeared to stretch out about .3 of a degree. I was not able to see it naked eye. When I returned home, I set up my 6" dob at 200x to observe Jupiter. I was able to see two white ovals on the southern edge of the North Equitorial Belt. The larger oval was just past the central meridian and the smaller oval was just getting ready to rotate off the planet. There is still no sign of the North Temperate Belt which disappeared about six weeks ago.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 5.0, est. to be in Pegasus, Est. RaDec 22 46.8)
Observer: Ted A. Nichols II (e-mail: tanicholsii@comcast.net)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Feb 5 01:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 774
I spent February 4th/5th, 2003 UT at the Astronomical Society Harrisburg's (www.astrohbg.org) Edward L. Naylor Astronomical Center in Lewisberry, PA (Lat 40.15 d N, 76.9 d W, Elev 390 m).Using the 17" f/15 Classical Cassegrain in the French Dome I observed Comet NEAT (C/2002 V1 NEAT) through the 5" f/5 finderscope and was able to see a tail confirmed by fellow members Bob Hoover and Vince Dangolovich.Though the eyepiece at powers of 162X, 206X, and 259x C/2002 V1 (NEAT) dispayed a .5 degree tail that could easily be followed with the telescope. All 3 observers present made their own measurements of the tail and we all agreed to have seen a .5 degree tail. The coma of the comet appeared somewhat more symmetric than the last time (it appeared egg shaped) I had seen it, and a central condensation was clearly evident. The tail was an extended ribbon with no fork evident. As things have progressed I saw the comet several times 2 weeks ago, 1 time last week, and again this week. The comet appeared brighter (5th Magnitude?) and this was the first time the tail was clearly visible. Prior we had though to had seen it in the exact same location we had seen it last night, so it obviously has brigtened and is spitting out more material.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 6)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Jan 28 00:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 771
Tonight, my friend Joe Cseh and I braved a wind chill of -5000 degrees so we could view Comet Neat with 10x50 binoculars. The comet had a bright coma and a short hard to see tail. This comet is expected to brighten alot during the next week or two. We then went back to his house to view comet Kudo-Fujikawa in real time on his computer. We went to the SOHO sight and observed the comet on both the Lasco 2 and 3 images on the SOHO sight. Even though this comet is very close to the sun, it is holding together nicely. It has a bright coma and a bright but short tail. This comet will be visable on the lasco images at the SOHO sight until the end of Jan. Comet Neat will be at the SOHO sight when it is close to the sun in the 3rd week of Feb.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~7.8, est. to be in Pegasus, Est. RaDec 00h32m, +19d10')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Jan 23 00:45:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 931
I had a look at C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) tonight (Thursday) at about 7:45 EST (00:45 UT 2004/1/23) through the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory. I used magnifications of 118, 162, and 202x. The U.O. 40mm MK-70 (162x) provided the best view. The comet was at 00h32m, +19d10' at the time. I noted a farily large and prominent coma. The twin tails that have been reported were not seen but a definite elongation was visible.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 6th, est. to be in Pegasus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Jan 18 23:47:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 767
Last Saturday evening at approximately 23:47 UT I had the opportunity to observe Comet NEAT V1 with the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrainat the Naylor Observatory shortly before high cirrus and the rising full moon spoiled the view completely. Magnifications used were 162(40mmn University Optics MK-70), 209 (31mm Tele Vue Nagler type 5), and 259x (25mm U.O. MK-70). C/2002 V1 (NEAT) was fairly bright but was hard to see through the 5" f/5 finder scope due to moonlight and poor transparency. Its large coma seemed asymmetrical and had noticeable condensation. The comet was soon lost in cirrus clouds so Dave Lassiter and Iturned our attention to his new Astrovid Color PlanetCam CCD Video System. Eventually we got all the bugs worked out and animpressively large image of Saturn appeared on the monitor. The seeing was rather poor but from time to time a sharp image of the planet ensued. The Cassini Division was easy to see as were thepolar hood and two southern hemisphere cloud belts. We pulled some tape and moved on to the Moon After Yule. The image scale produced by the 6477mm focal length classical Cassegrain resulted in a screen-filling image and slewing the telescope with the drive corrector proved tedious. I placed the camera in the 5" refractor and a much smaller and more aesthetically pleasing picture of the full moon flashed onto the screen.The clouds had grown worse so our final target was mighty Jupiter. The Galilean satellites were displayed through the 5" but disappeared when I lowered the gain to show the NEB and SEB. After a few minutes I moved the camera back to the focuser of the17". Even before I achieved best focus, which was somewhat difficult to do on all of the objects imaged, the GRS popped into view. It was pale but definitely pink in color. Unfortunately, there were noshadow transits or Galilean satellite mutual events to be seen.We also did some old fashioned eyeballing of Saturn and Jupiter at 259x. The GRS was just about in transit of the CM (the transit time was 2:27 UT) while all this was going on and was clearly visible through the eyepiece but was not as striking as it was on the monitor.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 8)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 16-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Sep 8 00:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 679
At the Conn. star party in the northwest hills of Connecticut, we also viewed Comet Hoenig through an 8" S.C.G. and a 16" newtonian as well as several different size binoculars. The comet appeared to be roughly cigar shaped with the coma toward one end of the comet. Instead of a tail, we seemed to observe some fanning out on the end facing away from the sun.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 9.5, est. to be in Cepheus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm binoculars Location: Springfield, VT, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sun Aug 11 03:25:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 671
I had some additional views of Comet Hoenig at the 67th annual Stellafane ATM converntion this past weekend. On Friday night I observed the comet through a fellow DVAA member's 13.1" Coulter and a 35mm Panoptic on the observing field near the McGregor Observatory. The diffuse coma seemed slightly asymmetrical but I could see no tail. The next night Comet Hoenig was easily visible through my Celestron 20x80's. I then proceeded to put it into view with a neighboring Tele Vue TV-85 refractor by sighting along the tube. Next I walked a few more feet to where Al Nagler's new binoviewer equipped TV-102i refractor was located. I asked Al if he'd like to see the comet and he indicated that he certainly would. I had the fuzzball in view in a jiffy with the help of Al's Starbeam pointer. The comet was still a rather undistinctive glow through the binoviewer and a pair of another new Tele Vue product, namely the 24mm Panoptic, despite the excellence of the optics involved. My final observation of C/2002 O4 (Hoenig) on Saturday night was through a rather expensive pair of 15x60 Zeiss Classics that Phil Harrington was evaluating. This was one excellent pair of binoculars and the comet and many other celestial objects, M31 in particular, were displayed in very fine fashion.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 6.5, est. to be in Orion)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm binoculars Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Aug 8 08:20:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 670
I set my alarm for 4:15 a.m. EDT (8:15 UT) on this particular Thursday morning in order to have a peak at the new morning comet, C/2002 O6. I resorted to the most languid of observing methods, I merely stuck my Celestron 20x80 binocular out of my southern facing bedroom window. Orion was rising in the eastern sky. The comet was just to the west of the head of Orion and was quite prominent. However, it was also extremely large and diffuse, a huge fuzzball. I spent a few minutes on O6 and the Sword of Orion and then retired to bed. In a few hours I would have to start preparing for my annual pilgrimage to Stellafane.
Comet (Comet)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 20-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Aug 7 02:40:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 669
I saw Comet Hoenig for the first time on Tuesday night, August 6th, from a friend's private observatory after trying unsucessfully on the previous Saturday and Sunday nights from two other locations. However, the conditions in south central Pennsylvania were superb on this occcasion and I was easily able to locate C/2002 O4 (Hoenig) in Cepheus (p. 34, Uranometria 2000.0) using a 20" f/10 classical Cassegrain. The comet, the first one discovered by a German amateur astronomer since 1946, appeared as a somewhat dim, diffuse glow with very little central condensation. The coma seemed to be slightly elongated but no real tail was seen. I used magnifications of 127, 159, 203, and 302x.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~5th, est. to be in Hercules)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu May 16 02:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 648
I motored to the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) on Wednesday night to help with the observing portion of the Spring 2002 Introductory Observational Astronomy class and to photograph the ongoing alignment of the planets. When I arrived I first had a look at Jupiter through the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 202x (Venus and Mars followed a bit later) and then set up my Pentax K1000, 50mm lens, and tripod. At 01:02 UT I took a 20 second exposure followed by additional exposures about 20 and 40 minutes later. Prior to that I'd alerted the students and other ASH members about an upcoming Iridium flare. At 01:27 UT Iridium 74 unleashed its reflective brilliance, reaching a predicted seventh magnitude. (The flare center was only 4.9 kilometers to the west.) Hopefully, I was able to capture yet another flare on film. After the brief flash of light I followed the satellite briefly through another ASH member's Fujinon 16x70's. Using the 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Newtonian I showed some of those present the Lobster Claw (Crater Gutenburg). The crater was situated for the most part on the unlit side of the terminator but its crustacean outline was unmistable nevertheless. I returned to the French Dome and trained the 17" on Gutenburg. After everyone interested had seen it I moved on to what I call the Tomahawk or the Reflex Hammer, the peculiar lunar feature located near Mare Crisium, and then increased the magnification to 259x. Another ASH member asked me to confirm his tripod mounted 10x50 sighting of C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang). The comet was to the north of the Great Hercules Cluster (M13) and seemed to be at least twice M13's apparent size. Both were easily visible in the same field of view. Next I put Comet Ikeya-Zhang and M13 into view with the 16x70's. I turned the 17" to the comet. Both objects were visible simultaneously through the 5" f/5 finder scope. At 162x Comet Ikeya-Zhang displayed an oddly skewed coma but no hint of its now dim tail was seen. The big scope next collected photons from M13 (162 and 259x). Two more ASH members had arrived while everyone else had taken their leave. One was going to look at binary stars with the 12.5" so I suggested Gamma Virginis. The rapidly closing separation of this system and only fair seeing made a clean split impossible with the 17" at 259x. Using a 19mm Tele Vue Wide Field (340x) did the trick. I moved on to another Gamma double, the golden Gamma Leonis (340x). Soon just one ASH member besides yours truly remained. I had a peak at M13 through his 10" Meade SCT before returning to the dome where I finished the night with a few spring deep-sky objects - M104 (162 and 259x), M84 (162x), and M86 (162x). Although I didn't do nearly as much observing as I would have on my own, I did manage to impart some knowledge to the students and accomplished some paper work in the classroom building as well as a minor repair in the dome. All in all it was three hours very well spent.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~5th, est. to be in Hercules)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 101-mm refractor Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sat May 11 02:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 647
I spent most of Friday night and some of Saturday morning observingfrom one of the best "nearby" (a mere hour and a half drive from myresidence) dark sky sites. On the final leg of the journey mysignificant other and I stopped for a few minutes to view the closepairing of Venus and Mars through her Celestron Ultima 10x50's andthen drove up Little Knob to Camp Site 52. Tony Donnangelo, a fellowASH member, was already observing with his 10" LX6 Meade SCT when wefinally arrived.The night began with fair seeing and good transparency - a visuallimiting magnitude of perhaps a shade above 6.0. This was all tochange with the passage of time, unfortunately.Before too long I had my 101mm f/5.4 Tele Vue Genesis sdf refractorset up and trained on Jupiter at 193x (7mm Tele Vue Nagler type 1 and2.5x Tele Vue Powermate). (I had originally thought about bringing my12.5" f/4.8 Starsplitter Dob but since my friend Roger Studer had saidhe was going to come with his 15" Obsession I decided against it. Asit turned out Roger decided not to make the trip because of concernsabout the weather. Two other ASH members had also planned to come butan automobile accident thwarted them.) My next targets were M81 andM82. Both galaxies were easily visible through my 19mm Tele VuePanoptic (28x).I followed with Comet Ikeya-Zhang, which was to the east of the fineglobular cluster M92 in Hercules. The 60x view with Tony's new 9mmNagler type 6 was superb. Since Tony wasn't using the 9mm with his SCTI had a fine old time auditioning it. I was to revisit the comet anumber of times throughout the night and as it climbed towards thezenith its coma was clearly asymetrical although I could never quiteconvince myself that I could see a tail. The fifth magnitude comet wasjust on the verge of naked-eye visibility.During the course of the night I observed quite a few deep-sky objectswith the aid of only 4 inches of ground and polished glass. Theseincluded M101, M5, M13, M104, M65, M66, Gamma Leonis, M87 and otherVirgo and Coma Cluster galaxies, M3, Cor Caroli, IC 4665, Antares B, M4, M8, M11, and V Aquilae. The highly elongated "needle" galaxy sometimes known as Berenices' Hairclip (NGC 4565) was only a small streak of gray at 60x. Near the end of the session I had a fairly good view of NGC 7000 (the North American Nebula) using Tony's 48mm Lumicon O-III filter and my 35mm Panoptic (15x) despite its less than optimum placement.Through Tony's telescope I saw M51, NGC 4195, M81, M82, NGC 2976, NGC3077, NGC 3079, M97, M108, M109, M101, M94, M106, NGC 4631, M53, M84,M86, NGC 4435, NGC 4438, M3, and other celestial eye candy using a40mm Tele Vue Wide Field, a 22mm Nagler type 4, and a 17mm Nagler type4.Sometime after 06:30 UT the occasional horizon hugging clouds becamemore troublesome, spelling the beginning of the end as they began tocover increasingly large portions of the heavenly dome.The highlights of the night were seeing C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) nearthe zenith through the Genesis sdf and later through the 10" SCT andviewing the classic edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4565 at 28 and 60xthrough the refractor, as well as the heart of the Virgo Cluster (M84and M86) and parts of Markarian's Chain at 60x.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 4)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Apr 12 00:30:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 639
Comet Ikeya Zhang's tail is continuing to fade. In 10x50 binaculars, the head of the comet is still about 4th magnitude, but the tail is getting very hard to see. The length of the tail is still about 2 degrees.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 3.5, est. to be in Andromeda, Est. RaDec ~00h49m, 42d11')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Apr 5 00:40:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 636
I had what was undoubtedly my last evening view of C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) on Thursday evening. Rather poor transparency, light pollution, and the comet's position made for a less than inspiring view, certainly inferior to Monday evening (2002/4/2 UT) when two other ASH members and I observed Comet Ikeya-Zhang C1 through the 17" classical Cassegrain, its 5" f/5 finder, my 80mm f/6.25 Apogee ED refractor, and Celestron Deluxe 20x80's. There wasn't much tail visible on Thursday and what little there was was best seen through a Celestron Ultima 7x50 binocular. A bright pseudonucleus and somewhat hazy coma were visible at 118, 162, 202, and 259x through the 17". To my great disappointment because of the poor conditions I could not detect M31 or M32 (which were within about 1.5 degrees of the comet) even with the 17" working with the aid of an Orion Sky Wizard DSC unit. We followed the comet until approximately 01:30 UT when it sank into the western tree line. Two different ASH members and I also viewed Comet Ikeya-Zhang through my 80mm f/7 Apogee achromatic refractor. I have observed the comet at every possible opportunity since 2002/2/6 UT with a variety of instruments (7x50's, 8x42's, four 10x50's, and two 20x80's; three different 80mm refractors, a 5" f/5 achromat, a 6" f/8 Dobnewt, and 17 and 20" classical Cassegrain reflectors) and have really enjoyed watching it evolve from a very condensed coma that resembled an unresolved globular cluster to a fine comet with a blue tinted coma, an excellent ion tail, and a bright pseudonucleus. Comet Ikeya-Zhang has been the best comet since Comet Hale-Bopp for northern hemisphere observers! Other objects observed with the 17" included M34, Saturn, Jupiter (the end of Europa's transit and the beginning of its shadow transit), and M48. With my 80mm Apogee I viewed Saturn and Jupiter as well as M45, M42, M41, M44, M67, M48, and other deep-sky objects.
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