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of it was solid cloud, west of it was a narrow strip of o This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0020_01C735C1.37FAEBE0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thanks Sherman for the aleart on the comet McNaught. We had spectacular = views of it this evening, ~1704hrs - 1739hrs.=20 WOW! =20 With Alexanders enthusiasim (my 8yr old Son) the teacher will probable = have to sit on him tomorrow to calm him down. As already noted by others i echo the tail was more impressive without = aids than with either Bio's or telescope. At arms lenth it measured 4"+, = I could only imagine what it would look like if it was visable in a = darker part of the sky later through the night. Tom K Canso ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Sherman Williams=20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 2:17 AM Subject: [NatureNS] Re: Another view of Comet McNaught January 10, 2007: Once again I had the good fortune of having yet = another good view of Comet McNaught. Although I spent most of the = observing time (5:11 to 5:32 p.m. ) enjoying the comet through my 10X50 = binoculars, I managed a couple quick digital photos from which I'll = choose and post one later on. =20 Between 4:00 and 4:45 I had been in New Minas doing an errand; at that = time the area was receiving a heavy snow flurry from heavy dark clouds = all around especially to the south. Then abruptly the flurries abated = and the north side of the Valley and especially westward, cloud began to = lift away, allowing the setting Sun to appear. The cloud's dividing line = literally was the solar disk. East and south of it was solid cloud, west = of it was a narrow strip of open, clear sky, running around to the North = Mountain. Some cloud remained overhead.=20 Noting the time and the nice clear strip in the west, my next move was = clear; I headed for a location where I knew I could use the opening for = a possible view of the comet (Middle Dyke Road, running north from New = Minas, crossing the Valley dykelands just beyond the Gesner Momument and = Chipman Corner). By 5 p.m. I had turned off into a farm road looking = westward, overlooking flat dykeland. I had a great view of the open = strip of sky and it looked like it was perfectly positioned. Relative to = the Sun's setting position, McNaught had to pass through the opening (if = more cloud didn't get there first). =20 Appear it did! Comet McNaught popped out from under the upper cloud = layer at 5:11. From then, until about 5:25, the path for the next 143 = million kilometres to the westward, between me and C/2006 P1, was = unobstructed . What luck! What a sight! My immediate impression was = that its brightness had increased over last evening's view, especially = the intensity of the comet head. Its brightness was a little reminiscent = of seeing Mercury under similar circumstances, except the comet seemed = brighter, but that may be my mind playing subjective tricks (seeing such = a bright comet in the evening twilight is much more rare than seeing = Mercury). It is bright, for sure. Imagine the sight if this were in a = dark sky! . =20 At 5:17 I took my eyes away from the binoculars and noted that the = comet and some of its tail was easily visible naked-eye. Reluctant to = take my eyes away from the binoculars, I would break away to hastily = take a few shots with the camera I had set up on the tripod. All too = quickly, about 5:25, the comet began to drop into the wispy fringe of = lower cloud. At 5:32 McNaught's light become indistinguishable from the = billows of cloud that moved up around it. P.S. This morning there was a reasonable clear opening above the = eastern horizon, every bit as opportunistic as this evening. From a = location near Windsor, I began a careful search from about 7:20 a.m. = until sunrise, without success. Catching the comet in the morning is a = greater challenge. Sherman=20 Sherman Williams sherm@glinx.com website: http://www.glinx.com/~sherm On 10-Jan-07, at 8:49 PM, Roy Bishop wrote: The clouds parted low in the WSW sky over Avonport late this afternoon = (January 10) revealing Comet McNaught in the evening twilight for a = third time (previously on January 7 and 9). I watched the comet from when it dropped into view at 17:23 until = 17:33 when it vanished behind a cloud layer near the horizon. It was = easily a naked-eye object, the head of the comet being even brighter = than yesterday as it approaches perihelion less than two days from now, = and less than half of Mercury=92s distance from the Sun. The coma has = changed in appearance from 24 hours ago, becoming more pointed with a = blazing =93nucleus=94 at its tip; not surprising as it is being blasted = by solar radiation more than 30 times more intense than at Earth=92s = location. Against the twilight sky the tail is still a narrow fan with = well-defined edges. I looked for structure within the tail (15 x 45 IS = binoculars), but it appeared quite uniform in brightness, other than = fading gradually to blend into the twilight about 0.5-degree from the = head. Twice while I was watching flocks of ducks in silhouette flew past the = comet. ( I also saw several ducks fly through my binocular field in = silhouette against the sky. It was a neat sight with a comet in the = background. ) After Earth=92s rotation raised the horizon clouds to cover the comet, = I could see its head for another minute, a bright spot penetrating the = dark cloud. A magnitude estimate is difficult given the atmospheric = extinction at that low altitude, the lack of any nearby reference = objects of known magnitude, and the bright twilight, but it must have = been at least -1 if not -2. There is an orbit animation for Comet McNaught at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db_shm?name=3Dc/2006+P1 The animation shows that during the past several days the comet has = been rushing almost straight at Earth as it vaults over the north pole = of the Sun. Over the next few days the comet will plunge southward as it = passes perihelion and starts its long journey back out away from the = Sun. That journey will take essentially forever, because with an orbital = eccentricity of 1.000011 and passing well clear of any planets as it = recedes, the Great Comet of 2007 will be on its way to interstellar = space, never to return. Roy ------=_NextPart_000_0020_01C735C1.37FAEBE0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Dwindows-1252"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1561" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY=20 style=3D"WORD-WRAP: break-word; khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = k