General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSaw the comet last night...
Under the Big Dipper. Best with binocs, although it's visible to the naked eye once you get it spotted. It's very beautiful, well worth the effort to look for it. A definite mood lifter in these wierd times. A suitable send-off for John Lewis, if you like.
Nevilledog
(51,268 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,337 posts)Went out into the country to get away from light. Have to get pretty far east before city lighting goes away. I was probably only 10 miles from the Indiana line.
Took binocs, as you say.
The tail is really long!
SaveOurDemocracy
(4,400 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,337 posts)If I believed in such things, I'd say it was touching, as well.
Well done!
eppur_se_muova
(36,317 posts)Lucinda
(31,170 posts)crickets
(25,989 posts)jeffreyi
(1,945 posts)But before 11pm or so... has to be dark so you can clearly see stars, but not too late as it's low on the horizon. I was looking at it at 10pm Pacific time no problem. The tail is really long, and almost looks like it could be split. Jupiter and moons are really spectacular now, too. In Sagittarius, southern sky.
Rver
(99 posts)Rural northern nye county Nevada. This my son's photo.
[link:https://ibb.co/gV9g7sQ|
Trailrider1951
(3,415 posts)Pretty cool:
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)I definitely was looking at the wrong shiny thing in the sky!
Crunchy Frog
(26,701 posts)It was very very faint, barely visible, but you knew what you were looking at once you saw it.
We're going out again tonight to try to find a place that's farther away from the city lights. We'll also have a little toy telescope that I got for the kids several years ago, and a real telescope in case we can get it to work.
It is a nice break from the incessant horror.
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)We saw it last night too with binoculars. Going out again tonight to a darker spot and with a telescope too. For us it was further to the right and lower on the horizon from the bowl of the Big Dipper. This was around 1000-1030. I went out again two hours later with my daughter to find it for her but we couldn't see it by then as I think it had moved lower and further east.
Talitha
(6,635 posts)It was 16 degrees above the horizon and easily seen only 50 minutes after sunset (11x70 binoculars). The nucleus is diffuse and quite bright - despite the bright twilight, part of the tail was easily seen through the binoculars.
By the time I was ready to head back inside at 11pm, its altitude had sunk to almost 10 degrees - but oh my, the darkness really made this beauty shine. The slender tail was 7 degrees long and only half of it fit in the binoculars' field of view. At this point it could easily be seen without optical aid.
(Please note: my latitude is N 45.5 and I live way out in the country. Your view and impression of the comet may vary if you live at a lower latitude or under a light polluted sky.)
rdking647
(5,113 posts)find the big dipper
from the 2 bottom stars at teh end of teh ladle look about 2/3 of teh way down to the horizon>>I was in a very dark spot last night and could see it with teh naked eye,from austin i needed binoculars
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