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Comet NEOWISE (1 Viewer)

Robert Moore

Robert Moore

Well-known member
I know this is a birdforum but everyone should try and look at Comet NEOWISE right now. It is just spectacular in binoculars and is bright enough to see naked eye after dark to the northwest from my location. You might pick up another hobby like Astronomy. ��
 
Yeah, it's a beauty! I went out of town last Saturday to see it. Was a bit tinier and further away (duh) than hoped (there's that magical Hale-Bopp still haunting my memory), but still I found it fast even in dusk with my Meostar 10x42. A real nice classic example of a beautiful comet! I was really glad I took the effort to stay up later than usual and go somewhere with less light pollution. Back in town, knowing where to look, I could vaguely see it with naked eye but nothing enjoyable.

Fun thing was a young couple showed up to watch it, and some clouds had just shifted before it and I was just patiently waiting for them to slowly head on or dissolve, and I heard them talking "well, I can't see it, might it be behind those trees there or something? How weird, what's all the talk about then blahblah" and they took off disappointed after a just a short moment. Just a few minutes later the few clouds broke and Neowise was visible again. Shows how birding trains the virtue of patience ;)
 
Ries said:
Yeah, it's a beauty! I went out of town last Saturday to see it. Was a bit tinier and further away (duh) than hoped (there's that magical Hale-Bopp still haunting my memory), but still I found it fast even in dusk with my Meostar 10x42. A real nice classic example of a beautiful comet! I was really glad I took the effort to stay up later than usual and go somewhere with less light pollution. Back in town, knowing where to look, I could vaguely see it with naked eye but nothing enjoyable.

Fun thing was a young couple showed up to watch it, and some clouds had just shifted before it and I was just patiently waiting for them to slowly head on or dissolve, and I heard them talking "well, I can't see it, might it be behind those trees there or something? How weird, what's all the talk about then blahblah" and they took off disappointed after a just a short moment. Just a few minutes later the few clouds broke and Neowise was visible again. Shows how birding trains the virtue of patience ;)
Click to expand...

It’s a shame you didn’t help them and get them to be patient as you knew they were looking for the comet, but guess I don’t know if they looked approachable or not or how quick they left and whether it was possible - something in common is always a great ice breaker to talk to strangers I find, which I quite like in bird hides sometimes if I overhear someone struggling. I certainly wouldn’t go over the top though! I only ever give enough info to help, then if someone wants to chat then on, then it’s cool - some people go into full on teacher mode :-O

It is indeed something worth looking at, my first comet :t:
 

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Well, shame on me. They were quite distant and to themselves, as was I. I probably wasn't even visible to them, stealth in the dark, and would had to have shouted to reach them, I could just pick up some sentences from them. Besides that they were gone in a wimp (wink? So they didn't seem that much interested.

And here I am defending myself, you much have struck a nerve ;)
 
Robert, a really impressive sight through binoculars indeed.
I couldn't watch it the first days, but the last couple of nights it has been and indeleble image. I'm a fan of handheld binocular astronomy, there's so much to discover even with a pair of 8x32.
The following image was taken through a 7x50 FMT-SX (placing the smartphone against the eyepiece) around midnight, when the comet was about to disappear under the horizon, beyond my neighbour's palmtree :)
 

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10x50, 15x70, 8x30, 22x70, thrown multiple bins at it, great in them all. Comet is less immediately obvious to the naked eye than last week, so see it while you still can, it will fade considerably over the coming weeks. First naked eye comet for 13yrs. Darker skies will show it better as always, but I live in the suburbs and it’s still plenty good.

Astronomers have to be patient as often you’re outside in the Pitch dark waiting for clouds to Move, at least in the daytime there are always other things to look at when you’re waiting for things....

Peter
 
Ries said:
Well, shame on me. They were quite distant and to themselves, as was I. I probably wasn't even visible to them, stealth in the dark, and would had to have shouted to reach them, I could just pick up some sentences from them. Besides that they were gone in a wimp (wink? So they didn't seem that much interested.

And here I am defending myself, you much have struck a nerve ;)
Click to expand...

No need to defend yourself at all, I didn’t mean it in that way, I just think it is nice when we are able to share knowledge with people who might be interested. As I say I didn’t know the exact setup and how approachable they looked, I dare say if they were actually much closer you may well have said something to them :)
 
I used 10x50 Swarovision, 16x70 Fujinon, and a 25x100 and the best view for me was in the 10x50 Swarovski. It’s wide field of view and and excellent optics was just stunning on the Comet. All tripod mounted.
 
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Looks better thru bins rather than the scope...but reverse that for looking at Saturn and Jupiter which are showing equally as well at the moment :)
 
birdboybowley said:
Looks better thru bins rather than the scope...but reverse that for looking at Saturn and Jupiter which are showing equally as well at the moment :)
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Totally agree, a lot of magnification needed on those two, but the striping of Jupiter and ring structure of Saturn nicely visible if you give it a go - Pluto is there somewhere too :-O
 
Pluto has been seen in a 89mm Questar.

I never bothered to find it even with a 520mm scope.

A bad decision to decide that it is a non planet.

B.
 
Binastro said:
A bad decision to decide that it is a non planet.

B.
Click to expand...
I agree, I read about the rationale recently and it seemed like semantics to me (although I'm no astronomer). If I ever go there, I will treat it with all the reverence deserving of a proper planet.
(BTW...Neowise through Canon IS 10x42....sweet!)
 
Actually naked eye comets are visible about once a year.
Bright naked eye comets about once a decade.
And spectacular comets once a century.

The best comet I have seen was comet Bennett 1969.
My black and white photo was shown on T.V.

Currently 23 observers are visually monitoring 25 comets.
Magnitude 1 and magnitude 5 to 17.
Naked eye, various binoculars, and scopes up to 500mm aperture.

In May this year comet 2020 F 8 SWAN was magnitude 4.8 with the naked eye.

Regards,
B.
 
Near Earth asteroid, a comet, Yellowstone, take your pick.

A small comet may have hit Siberia in 1908. It destroyed a lot of forest.

Every year there are hits from lumps of rock that are recorded by satellites.

Luckily, the bigger the object the less chance it will hit us.

At the moment Covid or just car accidents are the bigger risk.

A cow was killed by a meteorite, I am not sure if there are confirmed human similar hits, although some have hit cars.

Actually, I think human activities are more likely to be the cause of our demise than a comet.

The work of comet hunters and recorders, together with the several automated surveys give us a better understanding of comets and asteroids.

I was a comet section director for about 8 years. A thankless task, trying to persuade false reporters of comet discoveries that they were wrong and just saw a known nebula. I was glad to give up the post.

But, hey, let's be positive. There were two sunny days here and I actually went out into the sunshine in the yard. First time in three weeks.

Regards,
B.
 
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